Monday 4 May 2015 11:08, UK
The ATP final in Munich between top-seeded Andy Murray and Philipp Kohlschreiber has been postponed until Monday due to persistent rain.
After a four-hour delay because of the bad weather, the top seed was trailing two-time champion Kohlschreiber 3-2 in the first set when play was suspended after 23 minutes with rain setting in again.
Despite forecasts of more rain, organisers will try to start the final on Monday at 1000 (BST) with both players involved in the Madrid Masters next week where Murray has a bye to the second round.
World No 3 Murray, who reached his third ATP final of the year after the Australian Open and the Miami Masters, is aiming to seal his first clay-court title.
The match had been scheduled to start at 1400 (BST), and after several delays due to rain, the players finally took to the court at 1630, which was the latest possible time the final could start.
Murray had defeated Lukas Rosol in a heated encounter before downing Spain's Roberto Bautista-Agut to reach Sunday's showpiece.
The British No 1 ended up playing three matches at the rain-hit event on Saturday, losing in the doubles with partner Jean-Julien Rojer.
Bautista-Agut also lost the first set of his quarter-final before winning 12 games in a row to defeat Victor Estrella Burgos of the Dominican Republic was no match for Murray.
This is the first time Murray has played an ATP 250 tournament (the fourth tier of tour events below Grand Slams, Masters and ATP 500s) on clay.
The former Wimbledon and US Open champion looks in fine fettle too as he reached his first tour final on the slow surface ahead of the season's second Grand Slam, the French Open, later this month.
Kohlschreiber started the day by coming from behind to defeat Belgian fourth seed David Goffin in three sets. And when he returned to court he faced another struggle against Austrian qualifier Gerald Melzer, ranked 186th in the world.
Melzer broke Kohlschreiber twice to take the first set but began to flag and Kohlschreiber battled for a 2-6 6-1 6-4 win.
The Bavarian world No 26 will attempt to win his third crown in front of a home crowd after wins in Munich in 2007 and 2012 while Murray will be looking to win his first ATP Tour title of the year and first under the tutelage of Jonas Bjorkman.
However, he will be wary of his 31-year-old opponent, despite holding a slender 2-1 head-to-head record against him.
Kohlschreiber got the better of the 27-year-old Scot in their first meeting five years ago in Monte Carlo before their epic Roland Garros encounter last year, which Murray won over the course of two days - 12-10 in the fifth.
He also won their most recent clash in Indian Wells, but with a passionate home crowd on Kohlschreiber's side, Murray is expected to be in for another roller-coaster ride.
