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AAs another messy, rainy day at Roland Garros unfolded on Saturday afternoon, it gradually became clear that things were taking a left turn. With some third-round matches to be completed, French Open organizers opted to move the unfinished battle between Zizou Bergs and Grigor Dimitrov to Court Philippe-Chatrier ahead of Novak Djokovic’s night match, which was scheduled to start at 8:15 p.m. . Unless each match ended in straight sets, it was obvious that chaos would ensue.
It is fair to say that these matches did not end effectively. The match on the court, Alexander Zverev vs. Talon Grikspur, immediately descended into a dramatic five-set battle. Bergs then forced a fourth set. Djokovic and Lorenzo Musetti entered the court around 10:30 p.m., with Djokovic closing his excellent comeback win in five sets at 3.07am, the last final in French Open history.
No other famous sport in the world has athletes competing in the early hours of the morning, but tennis has managed to make it a regular occurrence. In recent years, matches have finished as late as 4.05am at the Australian Open with Andy Murray last year and 4:55 a.m. at the 2022 Mexican Open.
“I think it’s really unhealthy,” said Ons Jabert, the world No.9. “I hope Novak recovers really well for the next one. But yes, we are trying to push for a better schedule. But you know, when you have long matches, sometimes you don’t know. Apparently with the most important matches it is also more difficult. I feel that 8.15 is really late to start the game.”
Around 1am, Kasper Ruud completed his four-set win over Tomas Martin Echeverri before turning to the crowd at Court Suzanne-Lenglen with a smile: “I love tennis and I love Roland Garros,” he said. “But I’m not sure if I like playing at 1am.” Ruud was still going through his post-match routine and we talk about it on X when Djokovic’s match ended. For the players, the work doesn’t stop until they leave the court.
“I feel like a lot of times people think you’re done, but really, 3 in the morning, then you have press and then you have to shower and eat and then a lot of times people have procedures, so you probably won’t be you go to bed until 5 am at the earliest, maybe 6 am and even 7 am,” said Coco Gauff. “I definitely think it’s not healthy. It might not be fair for those who have to play late because it ruins your schedule.
While French Open Championship used to receiving criticism for its early finishes without floodlights, Roland Garros nights have now gone to completely different extremes since the roof opened at Philippe-Chatrier in 2021. In some ways, things are even worse.
With the arrival of the Philippe-Chatrier roof and floodlights around the courts, the French Open kicked off its controversial night session, selling the rights to one prime-time match on Prime Video for a hefty fee as the tournament looked for new sources of income to transform grounds. The tournament was previously broadcast in its entirety by France Télévisions, the national free-to-air broadcaster.
However, how the night races were billed as a feature match every day – and the French Tennis The federation has come under considerable criticism for not scheduling a single women’s match in the night session so far this year – it often seems like players are racing to avoid getting the graveyard. Both Rafael Nadal and Iga Svetek have repeatedly asked for earlier matches. Carlos Alcaraz also strongly expressed his disapproval of the nocturnal activity.
“It’s really hard to recover when you’re going to bed so, so late,” he said. “For me, it’s much better to finish at 6pm by having a really, really good dinner in a restaurant, good restaurant, good food. So everything is better if you finish early.
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These criticisms do not even consider the real conditions. The nights are warm at the Australian and US Open. However, the cold conditions in Paris make the clay courts even slower, the ball barely moves in the cold air. For most of Saturday’s match, Djokovic struggled to break through Musetti’s excellent defense in conditions that resembled quicksand.
These night sessions are also extremely difficult for all other people involved in the sport. Fans should not make such a commitment for the sake of entertainment. Sick children, many of whom are minors, and line workers must be able to return to their homes at a reasonable time. After midnight, there are few transportation options for anyone leaving the site.
It is clear that tournament planning committees need to be more flexible, more willing to move matches, impose clear limits on when matches can start and change kick-off times. The ATP and WTA tours have attempted to address the issue at their own non-slam events this year, instituting new match scheduling rules that include (three-set) matches that cannot start after 11pm and matches at 22:30, requiring transfer to an alternative court. It remains to be seen how effective they will be.
Such is the unpredictable nature of professional tennis, a day after constant delays and an early morning final, Sunday’s three-match session was shorter than Djokovic’s match alone. By 4:31 p.m., the planned schedule for the day’s session was completed.
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