Qatar Open: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova beats Jelena Jankovic, rain washes away rest of 2nd day

Doha: Rain wreaked havoc at the Qatar Open on Tuesday, with torrential downpours in the desert state pretty much wiping out all of the second day’s play. Of the 11 scheduled singles matches only one was completed when Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova defeated former world number one Jelena Jankovic in straight sets, 6-1, 6-4. But even that match took more than seven hours to complete because of the constant rain breaks. [caption id=“attachment_3284362” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova defeated Jelena Jankovic in straight sets, 6-1, 6-4. Image courtesy: Facebook/@qatartennis[/caption] Pavlyuchenkova’s victory under leaden skies meant she is only the second player to win through to the second round of the tournament. Play was started in three other first round matches but none was finished, though American qualifier Lauren Davies finished a set up against Italy’s Roberta Vinci before the rain called a halt for the day. The persistent wet weather had also wiped out large parts of day one. Organisers have announced that play will start three hours early on Wednesday – 1100 GMT – due to a growing backlog of matches. Some players, including the number five seed Garbine Muguruza of Spain face playing two singles matches in a day on Wednesday. There could also be a first outing for number one seed, and world number two, Angelique Kerber. However with further rain forecast, it is possible she may not play her first match of the Qatar Open – she received a bye into the second round – until Thursday, four days into the six-day tournament. Although it is winter in Qatar, the current wet and cold weather is thought to be some of the worst the country has experienced for several years. Earlier this month, Qatar, infamous for its hot weather which has led to the 2022 football World Cup being pushed back to November/December, recorded its lowest ever temperature, just 1.5 degrees Celsius.