"For the crowd, it's entertaining, for us, it's grueling" - Novak Djokovic agrees with Andy Murray over scheduling issues at the Australian Open
Novak Djokovic has agreed with Andy Murray's comments on scheduling issues at the Australian Open.
Murray played the longest match of his illustrious career in the second round of the Asia-Pacific Major against Thanasi Kokkinakis. The 35-year-old played out a five-set thriller to beat the 26-year-old 4-6, 6-7(4), 7-6(5), 6-3, 7-5 with the time being 4:08 am when the match ended. However, he lost 6-1, 6-7(7), 6-3, 6-4 in the third round.
Murray claimed in his post-match press conference that he would like to see some scheduling changes, such as starting the night sessions at 6 pm local time.
Murray's old foe, Novak Djokovic has now agreed with the Brit's statement. He pointed out that while matches finishing at dawn was an exciting prospect for the fans, it was grueling for the tennis players.
"Well, I think that players' input is always important for tournament organization. Whether it's decisive, we know that it's not because it comes down to what the TV broadcasters want to have. That's the ultimate decision-maker," Novak Djokovic said on Saturday after defeating Grigor Dimitrov.
"I would agree with his points. I think we have days when the day sessions go longer, but probably more days statistically in average where they finish, say, 5, 6 max, and you can start night session an hour earlier at least. I agree with him."
Emphasizing how the late finish disrupts the body clock and makes it difficult for players to recover, the Serb continued:
"I think for us players... For the crowd, it's entertaining, it's exciting, to have matches midnight, 1, 2, 3 a.m. For us, it's really grueling. Even if you go through and win, prevail in these kind of matches, you still have to come back. You have your sleeping cycle, rhythm disrupted completely, not enough time really to recover for another five-setter. Yeah, something needs to be addressed I guess in terms of the schedule after what we've seen this year."
Novak Djokovic reaches fourth round of the Australian Open by beating Grigor Dimitrov
The Serb, meanwhile, has booked his place in the fourth round of the Australian Open with a 7-6(7), 6-3, 6-4 win over 27th seed Grigor Dimitrov. He previously beat Roberto Carballes Baena 6-3, 6-4, 6-0 and Enzo Couacaud 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-0 in his first couple of rounds.
The nine-time Australian Open champion will next face 22nd seed Alex de Minaur in the fourth round in what will be the first-ever meeting between the two. The winner of the match will face either fifth seed Andrey Rublev or ninth seed Holger Rune in the quarterfinals.