Novak Djokovic was not pleased with how officials at the French Open handled the proceedings after his third round match against Lorenzo Musetti ended at 3:07 am (0107 GMT) on Sunday (Jun 2) morning.
Speaking after the match, the defending champion said “things could have been handled differently” by the Roland Garros officials as both players battled in the tough and cold conditions.
ALSO READ | French Open: Novak Djokovic escapes exit scare to beat Lorenzo Musetti in marathon clash
“I don’t want to get into this debate. I think certain things could have been handled differently,” said Djokovic.
“There is a certain beauty in winning the match at three in the morning if it was the last of the tournament, but this isn’t the case,” he added.
The 24-time Grand Slam winner had to dig deep after being two sets to one down and starting at one of his earliest French Open exits in the last 15 years.
Eventually, Djokovic used his experience and defeated Musetti 7-5, 6-7 (6/8), 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 in a clash which only started just before 10:45 pm (2045 GMT) on Saturday.
“Physically, I really went to my limits to win this match. When you play rallies of more than 20 shots, at two in the morning…. Who plays at two in the morning?,” said Djokovic.
“We play few matches in our life at this time. The conditions were very heavy, it was very cold. You didn’t have many free points behind your serve.”
The delay was caused as organisers squeezed in extra matches on the two main courts that have retractable roofs. The scheduling at this year’s French Open has been thrown into a tizzy due to incessant rains as other courts that do not have a roof have seen matches get suspended.
Short turnaround
Djokovic now has a short turnaround as he must recover to face Argentinian 27th seed Francisco Cerundolo in the round of 16 on Monday (Jun 3).
While Djokovic had to spend four hours and 29 minutes on the court to settle the business, the Grand Slam record for the latest finish remains with the Australian Open where Lleyton Hewitt and Marcos Baghdatis played a match until 4:34 am in 2008.
At the US Open in New York, the latest finish was 2:50 am in 2022 when Carlos Alcaraz defeated Jannik Sinner. Meanwhile, Wimbledon operates an 11 pm curfew with the 2012 clash between Andy Murray and Baghdatis ending at a more gentle 11:02 pm.
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