French Open: Rafael Nadal unhappy with courts

Paris: Defending champion Rafael Nadal was at the centre of a French Open scheduling row on Monday as rain delayed the start of the second day’s play.

Nadal, who has a phenomenal record of eight titles, 59 match wins and just one loss in Paris, had his opening match against US wildcard Robby Ginepri, the world number 279, shifted out to Suzanne Lenglen court.

However, Roland Garros’s showpiece Philippe Chatrier court will stage title rival Novak Djokovic’s match against Joao Sousa and Stan Wawrinka’s clash against Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.

The main court will also host opening women’s matches featuring Maria Sharapova and home player Alize Cornet. Nadal claimed at the weekend that he found conditions on Chatrier to be different this year after a practice session.

“I think they made the court new, so it’s like the clay gets a little bit more fixed. It was moving around a little bit too much and some small stones make the movement a little bit more difficult,” said Nadal.

“But probably they will be ready for the tournament now?,” Nadal added. However, his complaints stunned ground staff at Roland Garros. “I was surprised because nobody else had complained about Chatrier,” Gerard Tiquet, the man in charge of the courts.