The singles final of the Chennai Open will be played on Monday morning after rain and thick smoke from Diwali fireworks made it impossible to stage the match on Sunday. Top seed and defending champion Janice Tjen of Indonesia was due to face third seed Magda Linette of Poland at the SDAT Tennis Stadium in Chennai, but organisers called the match off after repeated delays and rescheduled it for 11am local time on Monday, 9 November.

The trouble began soon after the doubles final had finished. Rain fell on the main court, and although ground staff managed to dry the surface once, the rain returned and the court was left in poor condition. The start time was pushed back more than once as officials waited for the weather to improve.

As the evening wore on, smoke from Diwali firecrackers settled over the stadium and made the air worse. Visibility on the court was not good enough for play, and with the air quality described as unhealthy, the final was postponed. The WTA said in a statement that the match had been postponed because of unforeseen weather conditions. Tickets bought for Sunday will remain valid for Monday, which is the tournament's reserve day.

The delay drew criticism from the defending champion. Reports said Tjen reposted a social media post from her coach, Christopher Bint, which said organisers had wanted the final to go ahead on Sunday night despite the poor air quality. The decision to schedule the title match on Diwali, when firework smoke is at its heaviest, also came under fire from fans and commentators.

Tjen reached her second straight Chennai final by beating American Robin Montgomery 6-3, 6-4 in the semi-finals. Linette came from a set down to beat Anastasia Zakharova 2-6, 6-2, 6-3. The Pole is chasing a fourth WTA singles title and her first in more than two years, while Tjen is seeking to become the first repeat champion in Chennai. Linette knows the stadium well: she was runner-up here in 2022, losing the final to Linda Fruhvirtova.

The doubles final was completed before the weather closed in. Switzerland's Naima Karamoko and Simona Waltert beat India's Vaishnavi Adkar and Rutuja Bhosale 6-2, 6-0 to win their first title as a pair. Adkar and Bhosale were the first all-Indian team to reach a doubles final on the WTA Tour, and they had upset the second seeds in the semi-finals to get there.

This is the last edition of the Chennai Open in India. The tournament moves to Manila in the Philippines in 2027, a switch linked to the growing support for Filipino star Alexandra Eala and to the difficulty of staging the event during the monsoon season. For now, though, the focus is on Monday morning, when Tjen and Linette will finally get their chance to play for the title.