What Sunshine State? Delray Beach final between Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul postponed

The Sunshine State hardly lived its name on a miserable Sunday of weather.

With persistent showers pounding Florida from coast to coast and continued rain in the forecast, Delray Beach Open organizers made the decision mid-afternoon that there was no hope of getting on court by the evening.

The singles final pitting defending champion Taylor Fritz against No. 3 seed Tommy Paul will now take place at 12:30 p.m. on Monday, following the doubles championship match. Partly cloudy skies with mild wind are expected.

Good friends Fritz and Paul have split their four prior meetings. The two Americans have never met in a final before.

Paul is looking to lift his second trophy in as many weeks, following his Dallas Open triumph over Marcos Giron. He rolled over compatriot Frances Tiafoe, 6-2, 6-2, in a performance that was as good as they come.

“Confidence is huge in this sport and obviously I’m playing well right now. Today I think I played one of the best matches of the year, if not the past two years, because I didn’t miss too many balls today,” Paul said Saturday.

Fritz is aiming to successfully defend an ATP title for the first time in his career. He got the better of Giron, 7-6 (8), 6-2, to line up the showdown with Paul. The world No. 9 shared a story with on-court emcee Blair Henley about the first time he faced Paul as a junior.

“He got called on court at the same time as Frances. They had a bet with each other to see who could win faster. I was just the poor guy he was beating down on,” Fritz said with a smile.