Chris Evert questions Australian Open scheduling after the 4R match between Victoria Azarenka and Zhu Lin lasts past 2 am
Tennis icon Chris Evert criticized the scheduling of Australian Open matches after Victoria Azarenka's fourth-round match against Zhu Lin ended late into the night.
Several criticisms have been directed towards the scheduling of the night's matches at the event after several matches, most notably Andy Murray's mammoth five-set comeback against Thanasi Kokkinakis, which ended at 4 am.
Evert, on her social media platform, rhetorically wondered if if any other sport in the world has its athletes compete at 2:30 am.
"Watching Azarenka and Zhu… what other sports, if any, compete at 2:30 am???" Evert tweeted.
Watching Azarenka and Zhu… what other sports, if any, compete at 2:30 am??? 😳😳😳🥴🥴🥴@AustralianOpen
Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley had previously stated that he believed there was no reason to alter the schedule despite complaints from fans and players alike.
"At this point, there is no need to alter the schedule. We always look at it when we do the debrief like we do every year, we've had long matches before, and at this point, we've got to fit the matches into the 14 days so you don't have many options," Tiley said.
"I worked really hard in my off-season" - Victoria Azarenka
Victoria Azarenka defeated Zhu Lin in three tough sets 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 to make her way into the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.
In her post-match press conference, the former two-time champion mentioned that she was happy with her win and revealed that she worked hard during the off-season.
"Well, I feel really good physically. Knock on wood, if there's wood here. But I worked really hard in my off-season. I always work hard, but I felt like I was challenging myself to kind of go a little bit beyond what I usually do, which was very scary," she said.
The 33-year-old added that she was terrified of not being able to achieve her goals.
"Honestly, it was very scary for me physically to fail. I was afraid to fail, that I wouldn't be able to finish certain things. It hurts my ego very much if I cannot complete something," she said.
Azarenka also pointed out that she tried to overcome her fear of failure during the off-season.
"This off-season I really worked on not being afraid to fail and just give it 100% and kind of being okay with that if it's not enough, kind of build from there. I think that helps me physically to know that I have that experience from the off-season," she added.