Chennai Open star Donna Vekic had her blood taken and vitals checked on court as worrying scenes took place in India. Nearby to where Cyclone Montha continues to wreak havoc across the area, the Olympic silver medalist struggled throughout her opening match against home favourite Vaishnavi Adkar.
Vekic took the first set comfortably, 6-1, but had more trouble in the second after receiving treatment from the doctor in what was a lengthy delay to proceedings. The humidity in Chennai has been proving uncomfortable for many players, while British No. 3 Francesca Jones retired from her match against Mei Yamaguchi.
While Vekic was sat on the sidelines, she initially had her vitals checked by the doctor, before later having her blood taken and she was then given some chocolate.
The Croatian was able to return to the court while at 1-1 in the second set, with matches being played once again following play being suspended in the previous two days due to Cyclone Montha.
The cyclone has since been weakened to a cyclonic storm, despite the death toll rising to two in Andhra Pradesh, according to Times of India.
On Wednesday, the India Meteorological Department confirmed that Cyclone Montha had weakened into a cyclonic storm and will maintain that intensity for several hours.
Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu said two persons died in the state due to the severe cyclonic storm.
A statement read: “If we work in the same way for another two days, we can give much relief to people. Due to the cyclone, two persons died.”
The Chennai Open was suspended for a second consecutive day on Tuesday and not a single first-round match was played on either Monday or Tuesday.
“Actually, we are quite okay because when you have a draw of 32, we need only five days (one round per day). Of course, the players who are playing doubles and singles will have to play two matches (daily),” said Hiten Joshi, the tournament director.
“We’ve had rain during tournaments in the past, but never like this when the play had to be completely cancelled two days in a row. There was an instance in the past where we had to stop a match due to a shower, but we were able to wipe the court and continue playing.”