Gauff leads criticism of 3am finish at Roland-Garros: “It’s definitely not healthy”
The scheduling of an extra match before Novak Djokovic and Lorenzo Musetti came on court caused the late match to start at 10.30 and finish at 3.08
Coco Gauff, Roland-Garros 2024 – © Federico Pestellini / Panoramic
Coco Gauff led a chorus of criticism from players to the latest finish in Roland-Garros history, saying playing tennis at 3am is “definitely not healthy”.
Djokovic and Lorenzo Musetti came onto court around 10.30pm, two hours later than scheduled after Roland-Garros organisers added an uncompleted match – Grigor Dimitrov v Zizou Bergs – before it, even though it was dry outside. When that match went to four sets, Djokovic and Musetti were delayed further. The pair then played out a classic five-set battle, finishing at 3.08am.
“Finishing at 3am, I feel like a lot of times people think you’re done, but really, 3am, then you have press and then you have to shower, eat, and then a lot of times people do treatments, so that’s probably not going to bed until 5 at the earliest, maybe 6, even 7,” the American said.
“I definitely think it’s not healthy. It may be not fair for those who have to play late because it does ruin your schedule. I’ve been lucky I haven’t been put in a super late finish yet.”
While Djokovic was in diplomatic mode when he spoke to media after his win, saying he “didn’t want to get into it”, world No 1 Swiatek agreed. “Obviously, everybody kind of thinks about themselves, and that’s why I was always looking from the player’s perspective, ” she said.
Swiatek: “I always said matches should start earlier”
“It’s not easy to play and then it’s not like we’re going to fall asleep one hour after the match. Usually it takes us, like, four hours to even chill, and you need to do recovery, media. It’s not like the work ends when the match point.
“I was always one of the players that said that we should start a little bit earlier. Also, I don’t know if the fans are watching these matches if they have to go to work next day or something when the matches are finishing at 2 or 3am.”
On the ATP and WTA Tour, from 2025, matches will not be allowed to start past 11pm. The slams have not signed up to the rules but it would not have prevented the late finish on Saturday because ATP and WTA matches are played out over three sets, compared to best of five in men’s events.
Casper Ruud, a runner-up in each of the past two years, expressed his dismay at playing so late in his post-match interview, after finishing off his match with Tomas Martin Etcheverry at 1am. “I love tennis and I love the French Open. I’m not sure I like playing at 1am but the fans are here so I have to be here. Thank you everyone for coming,” he said.
Late finishes not good for anyone
Jamie Murray, the former men’s doubles No 1, said playing at such a late time was not a good thing, for everyone concerned, players, staff, ball boys, media and fans, even if a sizeable crowd stayed right to the end.
“No, obviously not,” he said. “Obviously it was raining and stuff. I mean their issue was that men’s singles matches, they hadn’t gone on court that needed to be finished. They should have been on at the start of the day on the covered courts probably. And there was a stage where all the women’s matches were on court finished and there was four or five men’s match playing, which the men unfortunately has to be a priority to get those matches finished because there’s five sets.
“These guys are playing back to back five set matches, which obviously here there’s not always much you can do about it, but I think they have to have priority on the schedule for getting them on and getting the matches done because obviously physically it’s a lot more demanding to have to back that up.
“But there’s a lot that goes into scheduling at these tournaments. A lot of people got their two pennies worth and staff have got their stakes. So I understand that it’s difficult, but we shouldn’t be in a situation where guys are finishing at three o’clock as for then by the time he goes to bed it’s probably like six and then you’re totally goosed the next day and then the next day is a battle as well.
“It won’t be easy for Novak to recover. It’s not like he’s 25 anymore either. So yeah, I was feeling for those guys last night for sure. It still seems to be an issue with these late finishes.”
Gauff: Slams could follow WTA/ATP lead
Gauff said fixing scheduling issues is never easy.
“What can be done?” she said. “I know on the Tour side they’re thinking about putting matches can’t start after a certain time. I don’t know if it’s going to be a Grand Slam rule, but I know on the WTA Tour. I think that’s something to look at. Maybe if a match is going long, possibly moving courts. Then I know it’s tough because, especially here, it’s only one night match, and people obviously paid for those tickets.
“It’s a complicated thing, but I definitely think for the health and safety of the players it would be in the sport’s best interest I think to try to avoid those matches finishing — or starting after a certain time. Obviously, you can’t control when they finish.”
The French Tennis Federation has yet to comment.
