Heavy rain stopped the first day of Queen's Tennis 2026 before it could really begin, leaving the opening matches broken up almost as soon as they started. Play was due to get under way at 12.45pm in London but was delayed until later in the afternoon, and then halted again after the weather returned.
The start of the tournament had already been pushed back by a couple of hours when the three opening first round matches finally went on court. Qinwen Zheng had only reached eight points against Jaqueline Cristian, Karolina Pliskova was leading McCartney Kessler 1-0, and Harriet Dart managed just one point before the umpire stopped play again. For a tournament that has no covered courts, the stop-start beginning turned Monday into a day of waiting rather than tennis.
That matters now because Queen's is trying to stage its opening round on a day when the schedule is already under pressure. The began its broadcast only once play looked certain to start, but the coverage soon shifted away after the rain brought everything to a standstill again, replacing live tennis with a re-run of Venus Williams against Serena Williams at Wimbledon before moving on to other programmes. Katie Boulter was due to face eighth seed Leylah Fernandez later on Monday, with Emma Raducanu scheduled for Tuesday.
Queen's announced there would be no play until at least 5pm on Monday, and the forecast was not encouraging, with further rain expected in west London over the next three days. That leaves the opening days of the event vulnerable to more delays, more reshuffling and more empty time on court unless the weather finally clears long enough for tennis to stay on.
