After completing just one match on Friday between rain showers, the second round and...
Max Purcell shakes hands with Daniel Altmaier after the first round match of the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship on Friday.A new day at River Oaks Country Club, the same old soppy story. As a hoped-for noon-time start came and went with a relentless drizzle resuming following an overnight thunderstorm turned the red clay courts into quagmires, the first round of the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U. S. Men’s Clay Court Championship still hadn’t been completed.
To a rousing round of applause, though they finally stepped onto Court 7 at 3:04 p.m. Five minutes and seven points later, Purcell was through to the second round, which is now complete and which is why tournament officials decided to not to complicate things further. After all, It was sprinkling again as they headed back to the locker room.
No more tennis would be played, so both the second round and the quarterfinals will be played Saturday, starting at 11 a.m. with the rain expected to dissipate for good in the early-morning hours. Barring further surprises, the semis will be played not before noon Easter Sunday with the final to follow after a suitable rest. The doubles schedule, understandably, remains up in the air.
The 25-year-old Aussie Purcell, who returned as the defending doubles champion – but with a different partner – quickly got the break he needed on an Altmaier crosscourt forehand error, then dropped just a single point in the final game. He had won the first set 6-4 on Court 3 Wednesday.
Purcell and Altmaier were supposed to be the first of five matches in the stadium today – and 17 total – but the clay there, without a drying cross breeze, was too saturated. Initially, they weren’t going to attempt to play, either, but a window of opportunity opened and the moment would be seized. Purcell, who won three consecutive Challenger Series tournaments in India in February, next faces Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina.
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