"Rain, rain go away!" Were the words rumbling around court-side today. The weather certainly had an impact on today's championship match, at times even threatening to suspend the action for another day. Players continued swinging through soggy tennis balls loaded down with water, and adjusting their strokes to compensate.
Spectators and umpire alike shivered in the damp conditions, but most remained to the end! It certainly wasn't ideal conditions for tennis, but the rooster-tails spinning off the balls as they rocketed through the air, and the unusual bounces created unexpected difficulties which had to be compensated for. In the end... both players were equally impacted, but the wet conditions probably took Sopcic's speed advantage away. This surely leveled the age and fitness discrepancy, and perhaps prevented Sopcic's first Championship victory!
