Rain had the final word at the French Open yesterday when officials finally bowed to player pressure and allowed Andre Agassi and Juan Carlos Ferrero to leave centre court in drizzling rain and fading daylight.
The two will resume their quarter-final today with Ferrero leading 6-3, 1-0.
Chief umpire Stefan Fransson of Sweden called the players off court just after five o'clock, more than five hours after torrential showers had halted their match for the first time.
The pair had managed to play barely 10 minutes in light rain when Agassi asked for Fransson. The Swede was already walking on to court and both players left to whistles and jeers from the 200 hardy souls who had braved a day of diabolical weather in the French capital.
Organisers had desperately tried to keep the match going. If less than two hours play is possible today organisers face a hefty pay-out to compensate ticket-holders.
Play was continuing on outside courts in the junior tournament, however.
Just 30 minutes play had been possible before the resumption, raising fears that today's women's semi-finals could be scheduled for Court Suzanne Lenglen, instead of the traditional Centre Court stage.
If the women are moved it is sure to infuriate some of them who felt slighted that their quarter-finals were played on Suzanne Lenglen, the Roland Garros second showcourt.
Meanwhile, Mark Miles, the chief executive of the ATP, angrily hit back yesterday at claims that drug-taking was rife among the world's top players.
French Davis Cup winner Nicolas Escude told French newspaper Le Parisien that he believed the ATP was trying to cover up the extent of the problem, particularly amongst American players.
Escude said the American-led ATP was being run "like the Mafia", with top players aware of the problem but scared to speak out because the ATP keeps files on them.
Miles rejected the allegations concerning the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme. "Some of what I read attributed to players, if accurate, I find uninformed, irresponsible and offensive," Miles declared.
MEN'S SINGLES: Quarter-finals:(11) J C Ferrero (Spa) v (4) A Agassi (US) 6-3, 1-0 - interrupted due to rain.
