Nadal and Serena matches washed out as rain wreaks havoc at Roland Garros

Rain wreaked havoc with yesterday's schedule but the gloomy weather broke for long enough to see Ana Ivanovic, the former champion, and Kimiko Date Krumm, the veteran Japanese, exit the tournament. Persistent rain started to batter the Roland Garros venue a matter of minutes before the scheduled 1pm start and only relented after a near five-hour delay. Six singles matches, including those of Rafa Nadal, the four-time champion, and Serena Williams, were cancelled while 16 doubles contests were also forced to be rescheduled. Around 90 minutes of play were possible mid-afternoon during which time Ivanovic lost 6-3, 6-0 to Alisa Kleybanova, the Russian 28th seed.

At 39, Date Krumm became the second oldest women's player to win a singles match here with her first-round triumph over last year's runner-up Dinara Safina, but her challenge ran out of steam in a 6-0, 6-3 rout by Australia's Jarmila Groth. Five women's singles matches were completed during the brief respite from the weather. Forecasters say the rain is likely to continue intermittently for the rest of the today and plummeting temperatures have also been predicted over the weekend.

Spectators will get a 50 per cent refund if there is less than two hours of play, thanks to special insurance taken out by the French tennis federation. Jelena Jankovic, the Serbian fourth seed, attempted to lift the gloom when she walked on the main court wearing a buttercup yellow dress to open play against Estonia's Kaia Kanepi. They were tied at a set each and 1-1 in the decider when the covers were rushed on once again.

* AP