Tennis matches finishing at 3am are “unhealthy” for players and should be stopped, says Coco Gauff.
Defending champion Novak Djokovic wrapped up a five-set victory against Lorenzo Musetti at 3:07am on Sunday at the French Open – by far the latest ever finish at the clay-court Grand Slam.
It reopened the discussion around why matches are allowed to continue into the early hours and the impact on player welfare.
“I feel like a lot of times people think you’re done, but really at 3am [you’re] probably not going to bed until 5am at the earliest, maybe 6am or 7am,” said US Open women’s champion Gauff.
“I definitely think it’s not healthy.
“For the health and safety of the players it would be in the sport’s best interest to try to avoid those matches finishing or starting after a certain time.”
In January, the ATP and WTA Tours jointly brought in a new rule which means no matches can start after 11pm.
However, the ruling has not been applied to the four majors, which make their own policies. Tour matches are also played over three sets, while men play best-of-five at the Grand Slams.
Iga Swiatek, the defending women’s champion, also called on the authorities to act.
“It’s not easy to play and it’s not like we’re going to fall asleep one hour after the match,” said the Polish world number one.
“[Change] is not up to us. We need to accept anything that is going to come to us.”
Credit: bbc.com
