Chennai Open tennis: Singles final postponed due to rain, unhealthy air quality

The singles final of the WTA 250 Chennai Open between Indonesia’s Janice Tjen and Poland’s Magda Linette was postponed due to rain and poor air quality on Sunday.

The contest will now be held at 11 a.m. on Monday, the reserve day for the tournament.

The summit clash was to take place after the doubles final and scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. start on Sunday. While the doubles fixture finished without any interruption, the singles final was delayed thrice due to rain. The precipitation finally relented for good, allowing the organisers to dry the centre court at the SDAT Stadium in Nungambakkam and announce that the contest would get underway at 9 p.m. However, an hour after that update, the play was called off due to the smog caused by Deepavali firecrackers creating visibility issues. Accuweather described the air quality as “unhealthy” at that time.

Both players came to the centre court and had a brief discussion with supervisor Sheetal Iyer before taking their kit bags and leaving again.

Later, in an official statement, WTA said, “Due to unforeseen weather conditions, the Women’s Singles Final between Janice Tjen and Magda Linette has been postponed. The match will now take place tomorrow (November 9, 2026) at 11 a.m.”

Tamil Nadu Tennis Association has announced that the spectators with valid tickets for Sunday’s play will be allowed to enter the venue on Monday with the same tickets.

The third edition of the WTA 250 event had begun with a complete washout on the opening day of the main draw action. Rain had interrupted play for an hour on the second day as well.

For the foreseeable future, this is the last Tour-level event on Indian soil. The tournament has been reallocated to Manila, the Philippines, for 2027 due to the growing popularity of Filipino star Alexandra Eala as well as the current time slot being unsuitable for Chennai due to the monsoon season.