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Tennis fans have expressed their disappointment with the Indian Wells Open's management of constant rain delays at the tournament.
Rainy weather in California has significantly impacted proceedings at Indian Wells, particularly during the evening sessions. The main draw action on Day 1 of the event on Wednesday, March 6, was cut short. While four matches in progress were suspended, 10 couldn't start, leading to a fixture congestion on Thursday.
However, a similar fate followed on Day 2, with five matches enduring rain interruptions before being completed, while 12 were rescheduled for Friday. Despite limited play being witnessed by the spectators, there were no refunds on offer, prompting criticism on social media.
"If you got night tickets for the first two days of Indian Wells you got: - 13 points completed - one set completed - two rainouts - $0 of your money back," the fan posted.
Tennis fans were appalled at the lack of refunds, with one taking an ironic dig at tournament owner Larry Ellison's substantial wealth, given his reported net worth of $127 billion.
"Indian Wells is the wealthiest masters tournament, owned by a billionaire tyrant, charges an arm and a leg, barely rains as it is, and yet they don’t even have a weather refund policy? Further evidence Nottingham Slam outsells," the fan commented.
"Absolutely absurd they didn't offer refunds for that. Policy usually is 1 completed match, should be that way everywhere," another fan chimed in.
Others, meanwhile, criticized the tournament's handling of the rain delays, questioning why the matches weren't scheduled earlier to avoid the rain in the evenings.
"So let me get this straight, you guys had allll morning to get matches started sooner but you waited until what 11am today to start? Same plan tomorrow? Great work guys," a fan posted.
"Very poor planning on the scheduling of these matches with this weather. I understand that it doesn’t rain in the desert that often, however, if it’s in the forecast, you need to plan accordingly," another fan wrote.
Here are a few more reactions from fans on X:
Iga Swiatek and Jannik Sinner make winning starts at Indian Wells; Elena Rybakina withdraws
The likes of Iga Swiatek, Jannik Sinner and Andrey Rublev have made winning starts at Indian Wells. Swiatek commenced her quest for a second Indian Wells title with a commanding 6-3, 6-0 win over Danielle Collins.
Sinner also dominated his tournament opener, beating Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-3, 6-0, while Rublev emerged victorious against Andy Murray, winning 7-6(3), 6-1.
Meanwhile, defending champion Elena Rybakina pulled out of the WTA 1000 event before her opening match against Nadia Podoroska due to a gastrointestinal illness.
