“I can’t believe there’s people watching us at like 3:15am. I mean, who cares?”
Garbine Muguruza uttered those words after prevailing in a marathon second-round match against Johanna Konta.
Their clash started at 12.30am in Melbourne – the latest ever start for a match at the Australian Open.
Around 250 fans saw the two-time slam champion edge out Konta 6-4 6-7 (3-7) 7-5.
When most would be tucked up in bed, Konta and Muguruza were going through their final match preparations well past midnight.
The match between the pair was pushed back due to lengthy matches and rain delays.
But this really should not be happening.
(PETER PARKS/AFP/Getty Images)
For all the talk of the Australian Open having the best facilities and being the first major to have retractable roofs (plural), it might be the worst for late finishes.
The US Open has had a history of early morning finishes, with three matches at Flushing Meadows all finishing at 2:26am.
Wimbledon stops play at 11pm at the latest under Centre Court and the French Open stops when it gets dark.
But this is 3:15am – well 3:12am, to be precise.
Rewind to 2008, and there was an even later finish at the Rod Laver Arena.
Lleyton Hewitt and Marcos Baghdatis began their third-round match at the Australian Open at 11:47pm and did not leave it until past 4:30am – 4:33am, to be exact.
Imagine having to start work after midnight. It is not ideal.
At last year’s event, Karolina Pliskova said that tournament organisers should reschedule matches that are delayed if they start late into the night.
The former world number one said that she did not sleep until 7am after her match against Barbora Strycova started at 10:55pm and finished at 2:30am.
She went onto lose her next match to Simona Halep in the following round.
“I went to sleep at seven in the morning yesterday,” she said. “I think just these late night matches they should cancel.”
She added that the late finish disrupted her preparation.
“I put (my) alarm at 12pm (midday) because I would not wake up, just to try to have a normal day,” she said.
“I went to hit. Overall after (I) was fine but still it (my preparation) changed a little bit.
“I don’t know if it would change the match. Probably not. I was feeling fine. Nobody’s feeling, after 10 days of playing every day, 100 per cent ready or fit.
“Today was a day match. It’s completely different story than I was playing the matches before. Every match for me was different story here.”
You can see her point. She may have lost that match anyway but it surely did not help.
(Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
When the tournament directors were criticised for not postponing a match between Grigor Dimitrov and Richard Gasquet in 2017, which started just before midnight, they defended the decision.
“We were constantly communicating with the players and their respective teams,” tournament director Craig Tiley said.
“They are total professionals and were fully understanding of the situation which was that matches went unexpectedly long and we had a full stadium keen to see them play.”
One stumbling block is disgruntled fans not getting their money’s worth and missing out on a match.
Fans may pay more than 100 Aussie Dollars to watch their favourite players play, only to miss out if it was rescheduled.
That needs to be looked at closely to appease the fans and players.
It is not the biggest issue in the news today, let alone the sport, but something does need to be done.
During the work week, the decisions you should make at 3:12am or 3:15am or 4:30am should be nothing more than, ‘Should I turn this pillow over as it is too warm?’ and not where to place my first serve on the deuce court.
Blake Standfield
Roar Guru
They’re playing sports not working a double shift in a hospital or long haul trucking. They’ll be fine.
Scott Pryde
Expert
You'd think so, but not really. Basically, the day off at Wimbledon just ends up meaning all Round 4 matches are played on one day, rather than two, as you see at the other grand slams. By that stage, there are only 16 matches across the entire tournament anyway.
BA Sports
Roar Guru
Good point about the shorter matches (in general) I agree with that anecdotally, though not familiar with the stats on the number of sets/ length of match differences - but the eye test suggest you are right. That said we don't have a day off in the middle of the AO, so that should mean more time to fit in matches right if the AO technically goes for more days?
Scott Pryde
Expert
BA - I guess Wimbledon get through all their matches in such a timely fashion because grass courts play quicker, points are shorter and generally speaking (again, exception being Isner-Anderson or Isner-Mahut all those years ago), normal matches are shorter. It means that, even with rain, they can plough through things and catch-up quite easily. The other advantage Wimbledon has in case of rain is the day off on middle Sunday. Play is pretty rare there, but if they do get enough weather, they are more than happy to get a few matches playing on that day (as they did a few years ago... 2016 at a guess.)
Scott Pryde
Expert
While some of the players complain, most would actually prefer to get it out of the way instead of coming back for a day session match the following day after being up late anyone wondering if they were going to play. The other issue with playing the day session match the following day is that their recovery time is actually shortened to the next round (i.e. no day off). Then there is the issue of refunds. Of course, not many people hang around until stupid o'clock, but that's the tennis. It's not going to change anytime soon either. The only reason Wimbledon has the curfew of 11pm is due to neighbouring residents and council, rather than it being a tournament rule. If they could, they would go to the small hours as well, although, with the exception of last year's semi-final where Anderson and Isner went literally forever (trust me, I know, I blogged it), they have never needed it.
Torchbearer
Guest
Melbourne Park has 3 indoor courts- and numerous lit outdoor courts, surely at say 10pm, matches not started can be rescheduled to another court? Apparently this option wasn't available last night because of seagull crap??? As for fans, this is just another (possibly unpleasant) fine print on their tickets. If their centre court match ends, they can traipse out to the other court and watch the other match if it is still in progress.
BA Sports
Roar Guru
The players would obviously love to have the extreme late starts knocked on the head. But there is a balance. Yes, the late start/late finish can throw your next day out. But, the alternative - playing the next day - throws out your prep not only for that match, but your recovery and prep for the next match. I think you will find most players, while they don't want to start a match at midnight, prefer it to the alternative. It is curious how Wimbledon get through their matches when they have (I think) one fewer match courts than the Aust Open. They do have day light through until 9pm which helps obviously, but invariably have more wet weather to deal with and don't have the three indoor courts. They also start later every day.