Sydney, Australia, 15 January 2012 | AAP

Persistent rain caused the men’s final at the Sydney International between unseeded Frenchman Julien Benneteau and Finnish qualifer Jarkko Nieminen to be rescheduled for Sunday.

Having made it to the court several times over the course of Saturday evening without play actually getting underway, the match was finally abandoned at 9.30pm (AEDT).

The pair will instead go head to head for the title on Sunday at 10am (AEDT).

Benneteau, the world No.49, reached the final after knocking out 2010 champion Marcos Baghdatis 6-4 6-4.

Nieminen became only the third qualifier to reach the championship decider in 22 years when he downed fellow qualifier Denis Istomin 7-6 (14-12) 6-3.

The 30-year-old will also play his doubles final on Sunday, partnering Australian Matthew Ebden against Americans Bob and Mike Bryan.

For all the people that were at Saturday night’s washed out final, tickets are valid for the Sunday.

If patrons are unable to attend the final on Sunday, they have been offered tickets to the men’s final in 2013 or a refund.