Linette: Chennai Open final should have been played before Diwali fireworks
Magda Linette beat defending champion Janice Tjen 5-7, 6-1, 6-4 on Monday in Chennai and supported the decision to postpone the Chennai Open final over health concerns from Diwali firecracker pollution while saying the scheduling could have been handled better.
The women's singles final had been set for Sunday but was pushed back by a day after rain and poor air quality disrupted play, with smog from firecrackers engulfing the city; the WTA had published its 2026 calendar in October 2025, more than a year before the tournament.
The 34-year-old ended a difficult run of form to secure her first title in more than two years, having been a 2023 Australian Open semi-finalist before enduring first-round exits at all four Grand Slams in 2024 and failing to progress beyond the second round in five successive tournaments since the US Open; she said she had been unsure about travelling to Chennai until her team decided. "I went to sleep and woke up at 11, and my team woke me up and said, 'We are going, we have decided for you'. So I was like, okay," she recalled.
On court, Linette dropped a tight opening set to Tjen, rallied to win the second 6-1 and closed out the match 6-4 in the decider; Tjen had threatened to seize the momentum and Linette referenced the memory of her 2022 Chennai final loss to Linda Fruhvirtova after losing a break. "When I lost that break, I thought, 'Not again', because that is what happened to me last time. I am really glad I served it out a little better this time," she said.
Linette supported the postponement on health grounds and criticised the timing of the match relative to Diwali fireworks, arguing an earlier slot would have been preferable. "It was more about the pollution and the health factor. You cannot put ourselves in this hazard. It is not good for the ball kids, it is not good for anyone watching either," she said after winning the title on Monday. "I was really glad that the journalists understood that and managed to stay one more day because it was very unhealthy. We definitely wouldn't have been able to play as well as we did today if we had played yesterday."
She reiterated her view on scheduling: "I think we should have played earlier, before the firecrackers started going off. You have to take that into consideration next time. I am really glad that we are still being hosted during the holidays, but the timeline of that day could have been better," she said.
Linette described the week as a hard-fought turnaround and expressed pride in reversing recent form, saying: "I was really desperate this week, and I am really proud of myself. After so many tough weeks, we fought in every single match and managed to win," a run of results that culminated in lifting the trophy.
The title will move Linette back into the top 50, improving her chances of securing direct entry into the big tournaments at the start of next season.