No. 2 Agnieszka Radwanska, No. 6 Simona Halep lose at French Open

ByABC News
May 31, 2016, 12:06 PM

— -- PARIS -- Yes, they actually managed to complete a match on this wettest of weeks at the French Open. Two, even. And both ended in surprises: Two of the top half-dozen seeded women lost within minutes of each other, No. 2 Agnieszka Radwanska and No. 6 Simona Halep.

After their fourth-round exits Tuesday, both Radwanska and Halep complained firmly about tournament organizers' decision to make them play through drizzles -- or worse -- that made courts slippery and clay-caked tennis balls heavy.

"I'm just so surprised and angry that, you know, we have to play in the rain," said Radwanska, the 2012 Wimbledon runner-up. "I mean, it's not a 10,000 tournament. It's a Grand Slam. How can you allow players to play in the rain?"

"I don't know who allows us to play in that kind of conditions," Radwanska added, saying her racket-wielding right hand gave her problems because she had surgery on it years ago. "I don't think they really care what we think. I think they care about other things."

Halep's comments had a similar tone, as she said it was "impossible to play," adding: "No one cares about the players, in my opinion. I don't care that I lost the match today, but I was close to [getting] injured with my back, so ... that's a big problem."

Radwanska dropped 10 consecutive games and got treatment from a trainer on her hand while being beaten 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 by 102nd-ranked Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria.

"So, well, I'm just pissed. I just cannot play in that conditions. I mean, I'm not healthy enough. ... For me, playing with those balls in that kind of court is pretty much impossible. So, I mean, I tried."

Shortly before that, Halep lost 7-6 (0), 6-3 to No. 21  Samantha Stosur in a contest between two past finalists at Roland Garros.

Halep wondered aloud whether those in charge of the French Open insisted on going forward with matches in the rain because they "are scared" about completing the tournament on time. All play was washed out Monday, the first full day lost at the event in 16 years.

"[It's] not our fault. [It's] not their fault," she said. "But the decisions were not, I think, the best."

Halep said she did not express her frustration with the chair umpire or officials during her match because "I'm not that kind of person."

Radwanska vs. Pironkova originally began Sunday, and Radwanska was just three games from victory at 3-0 in the second set when play was suspended because of rain. They didn't make it back on the court until Tuesday, when they began more than an hour late because of more rain, played for about half an hour, and then were halted by a 2 1/2-hour delay.

In some stretches, action proceeded despite drops falling.

The Stosur-Halep match was also suspended Sunday during the first set. And 2011 US Open champion Stosur -- wearing a long-sleeved shirt, as temperatures were in the 50s Fahrenheit (about 15 degrees Celsius) -- was better throughout Tuesday, her big hitting able to withstand the conditions better than Halep's spins and angles.

"We're told to play, we play. If it gets too wet, you've got to say something," Stosur said. "It's not good out there, but it was fine for us."

She is into the quarterfinals in Paris for the fourth time.

"It was really tough, obviously, with the start-stop and having a day off and everything," said Stosur, who lost to Francesca Schiavone in the 2010 final at Roland Garros. "Once you're out there and it's raining, it's not so nice, but that's the way it is."

Four of the top 11 players remain in the women's tournament: No. 1 Serena Williams, No. 4 Garbine Muguruza, No. 8 Timea Bacsinszky and No. 9 Venus Williams. Muguruza is already into the quarterfinals; the other three were scheduled to play in the fourth round later Tuesday, but those matches were postponed until Wednesday.

The first two men's quarterfinals were also listed on Tuesday's schedule -- No. 2 Andy Murray against No. 9 Richard Gasquet, and defending champion Stan Wawrinka against Albert Ramos-Vinolas -- but they were postponed to Wednesday.

Novak Djokovic's fourth-round match did finally get started Tuesday, and he split the first two sets with 14th-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain as they also went on and off court before play was again pushed to the next day.

Djokovic was leading 4-1 in the third when another delay began, also interrupting fourth-round matches between  Tomas Berdych and  David Ferrer, David Goffin and Ernests Gulbis, and Dominic Thiem and Marcel Granollers.

During one break, the top-seeded Djokovic, seeking to win a fourth consecutive major title and complete a career Grand Slam, wandered out onto Court Philippe Chatrier for a look at the weather, borrowing a green-and-orange Roland Garros umbrella from a fan.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.