"I don't know if fans are watching these matches" - Iga Swiatek questions French Open late night scheduling after Novak Djokovic's 3R runs past 3 am
Iga Swiatek shared her thoughts on the late-night match finishes at the ongoing French Open. The WTA World No. 1 commented specifically on the late conclusion of the third-round clash between Novak Djokovic and Lorenzo Musetti on Saturday night.
Novak Djokovic triumphed over Italy's Lorenzo Musetti in a thrilling third-round match that was delayed by two hours. It was scheduled for the night session before but was delayed because the previous encounter between Alexander Zverev and Tallon Griekspoor started later than planned. Moreover, rain interrupted the match between Grigor Dimitrov and Zizou Bergs and it was moved to the same court, further delaying the Djokovic-Musetti clash.
Iga Swiatek, meanwhile, advanced to the French Open quarterfinals after defeating Anastasia Potapova in the fourth round. Following her victory, she addressed the issue of late-night match finishes, explaining that players can't fall asleep immediately after and need time to recover.
“Well, that's true. Obviously, everybody kind of thinks about themselves, and that's why I was always looking from the player's perspective. It's not easy to play and then it's not like we're going to fall asleep one hour after the match. Usually, it takes us, like, four hours to even chill, and you need to do recovery, media. It's not like the work ends when the match point." Swiatek said in the post-match press conference [0:50].
Swiatek suggested starting matches earlier, noting that late finishes might deter fans who have work the next day. However, she also acknowledged that players don't have much control over these decisions and must accept them.
"Yeah, I was always one of the players that said that we should start a little bit earlier. Also, I don't know if the fans are watching these matches if they have to go to work next day or something when the matches are finishing at 2 or 3 am. It's not up to us. We need to accept anything that is going to come to us," she added.
Iga Swiatek has advanced to the quarterfinals, dominating Anastasia Potapova with a 6-0, 6-0 victory in just 40 minutes. The Pole will face World No. 6 Marketa Vondroušová in the quarterfinal.
Novak Djokovic chose not to speak much on the scheduling issue after 3R win at the French Open
After his nearly four-and-a-half-hour victory, Djokovic was asked about the scheduling issues. The 37-year-old chose not to elaborate and decided to talk about some other things related to the match.
"I knew you guys were going to ask me that. Look, I don’t want to get into it. I have my opinions, but I think there are great things to talk about instead. Both Lorenzo’s and my performances stand out, I don’t want to be talking about scheduling. I think some things could have been handled a different way. But there’s beauty as well, I guess, winning a match at 3:30 am. If it’s the last one of the tournament. But it’s not, so I’m going to have to switch on all of my young genes and try to recover as quick as possible," Djokovic said in the post-match press conference.
Novak Djokovic aims to maintain momentum in the fourth round against Argentina's Francisco Cerúndolo on June 3rd. He has not won a title so far this season and will look to bag the French Open for the fourth time in his career.