The final of the Kingfisher Airlines ATP Mumbai Open continued to be cursed by rain. The deferred match between Tomas Berdych and Dmitry Tursunov was suspended well after an hour of play on Monday.
Russia's Tursunov was leading 6-3, 1-1 when it started raining; the match is expected to resume by 1830 IST. The doubles final, between Mahesh Bhupathi-Mario Ancic and Rohan Bopanna-Mustafa Ghouse, will also be played simultaneously on an adjacent court.
Rain had prevented the singles and doubles finals commencing on Sunday.
The weather also disrupted the schedule of the top players still in the fray at the tournament. Tursunov and Mario Ancic, who figures in the doubles final along with India's Mahesh Bhupathi, were to travel for the Tokyo ATP, starting on Monday, but had to delay their departure.
Tursunov had travelled to Mumbai after a gruelling Davis Cup match against Andy Roddick last Sunday and looked physically drained during the first two rounds.
Slighted indoors without practice for the last two days, both the finalists looked out of sorts at the start of the final. They exchanged breaks in the first two games, but the Russian world No 22 got the better of Berdych in the rallies.
It was also a contest about whose temperament was better.
The energy and fire that saw Tursunov overcome top seed Tommy Robredo in the semi-final on Saturday was lacking, but he gained from Berdych's errors and broke the Czech in the sixth game to take a 4-2 lead. He served out the set at 6-3 with a service winner.
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