Rain delays play havoc with Monterrey Open schedule
Heavy rain brought a stop-start evening session to a premature end at the Monterrey Open on Friday, with Russian second seed Ekaterina Alexandrova’s semifinal against Czech Marie Bouzkova being moved to Saturday. The match was tied at two games apiece in the first set when rains disrupted play, with the delay lasting several hours before the contest was rescheduled. The semifinal will begin at 11:30 am (1830 GMT) on Saturday, with the final to be played later in the evening. The delay is far from ideal for Alexandrova and Bouzkova, who are both scheduled to compete in the first round of the US Open, which begins on Sunday. The winner of the semifinal clash between the two will face Diana Shnaider in the final, after the Russian third seed claimed a 6-3 7-6(8) win over Alycia Parks of the United States. After coasting through the first set, Shnaider was put under some pressure early in the second and was forced to save two break points before going on to edge a tight tiebreaker and reach her first final of the year. World number 12 Shnaider is unbeaten in her last four finals on the WTA Tour, claiming titles in Hong Kong, Budapest, Bad Homburg and Hua Hin last year.