"Finishing at 3 am is not healthy" - Coco Gauff joins French Open scheduling debate after Novak Djokovic's 3R finish stirs controversy
Coco Gauff became the latest name in the tennis world to speak up about the negatives associated with matches finishing late into the night. Her comments came amid a raging wave of criticism that the ongoing French Open faces after Novak Djokovic's epic third-round comeback win against Lorenzo Musetti finished beyond 3 AM local time in Paris on Sunday, June 2.
The bewildering time at which Djokovic's match against Musetti ended also had to do with the tournament's sudden decision to move Grigor Dimitrov's third-round match against Zizou Bergs to Court Philippe-Chatrier. Dimitrov and Bergs' match was originally scheduled to take place on Friday, May 31, on an outside court. However, despite its commencement, it could not be concluded due to rain and was temporarily suspended.
The match resumed on the same outside court on Saturday, June 1. However, once again, rain played spoilsport. Realizing that not finishing the match on Saturday would create scheduling chaos, organizers moved it to the Chatrier, with its resumption being given the 8 PM time to start. This created a delay of more than two hours for Djokovic's match against Musetti.
Gauff spoke up on the issue after her 6-1, 6-2 fourth-round win over Elisabetta Cocciaretto. According to the American, such a late finish is never in the best interests of the players involved, particularly in terms of their health.
"I definitely think finishing at 3 a.m. is -- I feel like a lot of times people think you're done, but really, 3 a.m., 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, and even 7 a.m. I definitely think it's not healthy," Gauff said (at 0:43).
The reigning US Open champion also urged tournament organizers to reconsider their scheduling of night matches, as it is impossible to predict when those will eventually end.
"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," Gauff said.
Coco Gauff joined forces with Elena Rybakina and Iga Swiatek in 2023 to protest against late-night finishes
During a press conference at the 2023 Cincinnati Open following her fourth-round win over Linda Noskova, Gauff echoed rivals Elena Rybakina and Iga Swiatek's sentiments regarding late-night finishes hampering players' recovery.
Gauff cited her own experience of facing Marketa Vondrousova at the 2023 Canadian Open, saying:
"Unfortunately, I think Elena and Iga said the same, there is not much the players can do in that situation. We can fight. For me, when I had that night match against Marketa and that was because of the rain, I really fought for the not-before 1:30 time, or not before 2:00, that saved me the extra 30 minutes in the morning, which means a lot in sleeping terms."
Gauff is set to face Ons Jabeur in the French Open quarterfinals. If the American manages to reach the semis, she will square off against either Swiatek or Marketa Vondrousova.