Canadian Open 2022 – Rain disrupts opening day in Montreal as Andy Murray’s opener against Taylor Fritz postponed

Rain disrupted the opening day of the men’s Canadian Open in Montreal, with a four-hour delay forcing the postponement of Andy Murray’s match against Taylor Fritz.

Inclement weather saw just two points of tennis played across the three courts in Quebec before 4pm local time (9pm BST).

Francisco Cerundolo and Karen Khachanov briefly appeared on court between showers, but soon exited at 15-all in their first game.

Play eventually commenced in earnest more than four hours after the scheduled start, forcing organisers to rejig their opening day schedule, including Murray’s first round meeting against Fritz.

The three-time major champion had been due to take on the talented American second on centre court, but the encounter was postponed until Tuesday in the hope of ensuring that home favourite Denis Shapovalov would get on court in his match against Alex de Minaur.

On Court Rogers, the revised order saw Marcos Giron vs Roberto Bautista Agut follow the match between Cerundulo and Khachanov.

The weather also impacted the women’s competition in Toronto.

Sofia Kenin had staged a remarkable fightback from a set and 5-1 down to take Sloane Stephens to a decider, but had her momentum stalled by an untimely interruption.

Another all-American encounter between Madison Keys and Asia Muhammad was suspended at 4-4 in the second with the latter a set up, while the French affair between Caroline Garcia and Aliza Cornet came to a halt on serve in the opening set.

All matches were able to resume, though, after a delay of roughly an hour.