(Melbourne) During his match of 2e tour of the Australian Open that took him into the early hours of Friday morning, Andy Murray yelled what many players, spectators and observers often think about the sometimes incomprehensible schedule of Grand Slam tournaments: “Why is playing is it at three o’clock in the morning? »
It was 4:06 a.m. on Friday morning when Murray overcame Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis after five hours and 45 minutes of play and five tight sets 4-6, 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 ( 7/5), 6-3, 7-5.
Never has the former world No.1, winner in his career of 46 titles including three Grand Slams, spent so much time on a court. The 35-year-old Scotsman, who returned from several right hip operations, has never finished a match so late.
And for good reason, in the history of the Australian Open, only one match ended later, a duel at 3e round of the 2008 edition between the Australian Lleyton Hewitt and the Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis, concluded at… 4:34 in the morning.
And there is better, or worse, in the history of the ATP circuit: it was 4:54 am when the German Alexander Zverev and the American Jenson Brooksby finished their match of the 1er round of the Acapulco tournament in 2022.
” A joke ”
Back on the Melbourne courts, just less than eight hours after his victory over Kokkinakis, to prepare for his duel against the Spaniard Roberto Bautista, scheduled for Saturday not before 7 p.m., Murray was not losing his temper.
“Rather than an epic match between Murray and Kokkinakis, it ended in a farce,” he said.
“Some people have to work the next day,” recalled the 66e world player who wanted to thank the spectators who stayed until the end in the stands of the Margaret Court Arena.
“If my child was a ballboy for a tournament and he had to come home at five in the morning, as a father, I would have exploded,” continued the Briton. “It’s not good for them. It is also not good for referees and officials. I don’t think it’s great for the fans either, and it’s not good for the players. »
Murray received the support of world No.3 Jessica Pegula: “It’s crazy. No (other) sport does that, ”regrets the American, whose wealthy parents own the Bills (NFL) and the Buffalo Sabers (NHL).
“It’s something that needs to be talked about, because I think all the players believe that this should not happen again,” she said.
“We will remember”
During this extended match, the legend of women’s tennis Martina Navratilova estimated on Twitter that it was necessary “to enact better rules about weather conditions and the start of matches”.
These late schedules, to meet the demands of broadcasters, are no longer limited to the Australian and United States Internationals, whose night sessions end in the first week after 2 a.m. Last June, at Roland-Garros, the quarter-final between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal ended at 1:15 a.m.
Jamie Murray, Andy’s brother and doubles specialist, is among those calling for the scheduling of Grand Slam night sessions to be limited to one match.
This proposal was brushed aside by Australian Open manager Craig Tiley: “If you only put one game on at night and there is an injury, you have nothing for the fans or the broadcasters” , he retorted.
And not all players are hostile to these matches scheduled in the evening and at night: “The match started at 10 p.m. Kokkinakis made it last. Murray also lengthened it”, underlined the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas.
“I think tennis likes these kinds of matches because there is a story behind it, there is a great story behind this match and it will be remembered,” noted the world No.4.
