By C. Perera, JadeTimes News
According to Coco Gauff, Tennis matches that end at three in the morning are "unhealthy" for the players and ought to be banned. This declaration follows the reigning champion Novak Djokovic's five set triumph over Lorenzo Musetti at the French Open, which concluded at 3.07 a.m. on Sunday, the latest conclusion at this Grand Slam on clay. The argument over why games are permitted to go into the early hours of the morning and the ensuing effects on player welfare has been rekindled in light of this incident.
"A lot of times people think you're done, but really at 3am probably not going to bed until 5am at the earliest, maybe 6am or 7am," said Gauff, the US Open women's winner, highlighting the difficulties of such late finishes. It's undoubtedly unhealthy, in my opinion. Regarding the Considering player safety, it would be desirable for the sport to refrain from having matches end or begin later than a set time.
"The WTA and ATP Tours implemented a new regulation in January that forbade match starts beyond 11 p.m. Nevertheless, since the four majors have their own policies, this regulation does not apply to them. In addition, matches on tours are three sets long, while at Grand Slams, men play best of five. Iga Swiatek, the reigning women's champion, emphasised the difficulties of playing late into the night and the difficulty of calming down after the match in her plea for authorities to intervene.
The world number one Polish player remarked, "It's not easy to play and it's not like we're going to fall asleep one hour after the match." is not within our control. Anything that is thrown at us has to be accepted." What happened was that the French Open moved Grigor Dimitrov's abandoned match against Zizou Bergs to Court Philippe Chatrier in front of Djokovic and Musetti's night session match. This choice proved to be counterproductive as the match between Tallon Griekspoor and Alexander Zverev, which was anticipated to conclude swiftly, went into five sets.
As such, Djokovic and Musetti's start time was pushed back to 10.37 p.m. due to the match between Dimitrov and Bergs, which Dimitrov won in four sets. Four and a half hours after the match began, Djokovic, who eventually prevailed, did not criticise the scheduling but he did acknowledge the physical toll it had. Jamie Murray, a British doubles player, emphasised the need for a prolonged recuperation following such late finishes, pointing out that Djokovic would face significant difficulties.and Musetti's start to 10.37pm. Djokovic, who ultimately won the match four and a half hours later, refrained from criticizing the scheduling but acknowledged the physical toll it took.
British doubles player Jamie Murray highlighted the extended recovery needed after such late finishes, noting that it would be particularly challenging for Djokovic, who, at 37, is no longer in his peak physical years. Djokovic was not scheduled for practice on Sunday ahead of his fourth round match against Francisco Cerundolo on Monday.The French Open has been asked by BBC Sport to comment on the scheduling decision.