It's a rainy morning in Cincinnati

 

.@Simona_Halep could be in action twice on @CincyTennis day 4!

Complete OOP--> https://t.co/J8FvsMelZR pic.twitter.com/yrfJjiaD1f

— WTA (@WTA) August 16, 2018

It's probably a good thing for Simona Halep, but not so much for the rest of us, that the rain is coming down in Cincinnati, and--more important--in Mason. Last night, after both Halep and her opponent, Ajla Tomljanovic, took medical time-outs, their match was suspended because of rain (it had also rained a lot earlier in the day).

When play stopped, Halep was up 4-3 in the third set. The physical (and undoubtedly, mental) rigor of the world number 1's last several days have no doubt taken a toll on her, as they would on anyone. If Halep defeats Tomljanovic, she'll have to play yet another match today, in order to do rain delay catch-up.

The other match that was interrupted last night was the contest between Amanda Anisimova and Petra Martic. When play was suspended, Anisimova was up 5-4 in the first set, with a set point on Martic's serve. The delay certainly isn't a gift for Anisimova.

There is likely to be rain on and off throughout the day today. The question, of course, is: how hard will it come down? Rain like what we had yesterday causes long delays because it takes so long to dry the courts.

One of the biggest matches scheduled today puts Angie Kerber against Madison Keys. Kerber is 7-1 against Keys, and 6-0 against her on hard courts. Kerber's last hard court victory against Keys occurred in the quarterfinals of this year's Australian Open.

Petra Kvitova returns to the courts today, and will play Kiki Mladenovic. Kvitova is 5-1 against Mladenovic; they last met in the 2018 St. Petersburg final, which Kvitova won, 6-1, 6-2.

Mladenovic, with partner Timea Babos, is also scheduled to play doubles today. However, the doubles match to watch today is the quarterfinal that features top seeds Barbora Krejcikova/Katerina Siniakova and 6th seeds Elise Mertens/Demi Schuurs. The Czechs--who won both the French Open and Wimbledon--are on fire, but so is Schuurs, and having Mertens as a partner is a plus.

The early evening singles match is of interest because it features two "clay court specialists" who are turning out to be something more. At least one of them, Kiki Bertens, has already proven that she can be a terror on other surfaces, too. Her opponent, Anett Kontaveit, has already defeated two good players--Barbora Strycova and Maria Sakkari.