Play grinds to a halt during Italian Open amid extraordinary scenes in Foro Italico.
A quarter-final match at the Italian Open was suspended on Wednesday evening after smoke from the fireworks and flares set off to celebrate Inter Milan’s Coppa Italia victory drifted across the courts at the Foro Italico.
The two sporting venues are situated in close proximity: the Stadio Olimpico, where Inter had just defeated Lazio 2-0 to claim the cup, lies immediately adjacent to the Foro Italico tennis complex.
Wind carried the thick cloud of smoke directly onto the centre court, making it almost impossible for Luciano Darderi and Rafael Jodar to see the ball clearly. Darderi was heard telling the chair umpire, “I can’t see anything.”
The smoke also knocked out the Hawk-Eye electronic line-calling system, rendering it temporarily inoperable.
During some rallies, incorrect calls were issued -including one on a Darderi forehand that appeared to be in but was called out. The chair umpire halted play entirely and both players remained courtside awaiting developments.
Bizarre scenes in Roma pic.twitter.com/uq5yRGKP8t
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After a suspension of roughly 20 minutes, the umpire asked both players to warm up in order to test whether the electronic system had returned to working order. As the smoke gradually dispersed, Hawk-Eye was restored and play resumed.
The match had already begun exceptionally late due to a separate set of delays. Rain earlier in the day had pushed the start time back to around 23.00, and the smoke interruption occurred towards the end of the first set, with Jodar ahead at 6-5.
Despite everything, Darderi recovered to win that first set in a tie-break and ultimately prevailed in the match, concluding the contest well after 02.00 in the morning.
The collision of the two events had in fact been flagged in advance, with the Rome derby between Lazio and Roma having already been moved to Monday evening specifically to avoid clashing with the Italian Open final – a decision that itself generated considerable controversy in Italian football.
