French open washed out for 1st time in 16 years

For the first time in 16 years, unrelenting rain Monday washed out a full day of play at the only Grand Slam tennis venue without a retractable roof over its show court, clogging the schedule with unfinished and postponed matches and prompting the frustrated tournament director to plead - again - for a roof as soon as possible.

"Our roof is a necessity," Guy Forget said, as players were sent back to their hotels and thousands of would-be spectators told to apply for refunds for their unused tickets.

"I'm a bit annoyed t

oday, to say the least."

Chopped and changed plans to modernize Roland Garros now call for a retractable roof by 2020 over Court Philippe Chatrier, as part of a modernization of the cramped clay-court venue in the west of Paris. But opposition and legal action from local residents and environmental activists has slowed the ambitious project, which would expand Roland Garros into botanical gardens next door. Tournament organizers hope a ruling expected in September from the Council of State, France's highest administrative authority, will allow work to proceed.

With damp spectators sheltering where they could from the downpours and no letup forecast, tournament organizers announced in the early afternoon that there would be no play at all for the first time since May 30, 2000.

"We knew today was going to be horrible and it went beyond what we had imagined. That's why we sent back the players so early," Forget said.

If the weather breaks Tuesday, matches will start three hours earlier than initially planned and be spread over more courts. Despite forecasts of more rain, Forget said he is "pretty positive" there will be play. The schedule for Tuesday now has top-ranked Novak Djokovic against 14th-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut in the first match on Chatrier, playing for a place in the quarterfinals.

They will be followed by defending champion Serena Williams in her delayed fourth-round match against 18th-seeded Elina Svitolina. Venus Williams' match against 2015 semifinalist Timea Bacsinszky was supposed to have been played on Chatrier on Monday but was rescheduled as the third match Tuesday on Court Suzanne Lenglen.