Novak Djokovic added another record to his endless collection when he claimed the last ever victory at Roland Garros, capping an early morning session by finally beating Italian Lorenzo Musetti at 3.07am.
“Who’s going to sleep now?” Djokovic asked the crowd after his 7-5, 6-7, 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 victory, which took four and a half hours. “It’s impossible to sleep with all this adrenaline. If you have a party, I’ll come. Come on!”
Here was the latest crazy finish in a sport that has become addicted to it. Until recently, play at the French Open was limited to daylight hours, but the nature of the tournament has changed dramatically since the introduction of night sessions in 2021. Numerous matches have ended after midnight over the past week.
However, nothing like this has ever been seen here before. The previous record at Roland Garros was set by Rafael Nadal and Jannik Sinner, who finished at 1.26am in the autumnal, Covid-disrupted 2020 event.
Five other major matches have been postponed. Although most of these are recent, the record is still held by the 2008 Lleyton Hewitt-Marcos Baghdatis match at the Australian Open, after which the players drove past the early morning rubbish collection services on their way home.
Djokovic and Musetti were originally scheduled to start at 8:15 p.m. or shortly after, but terrible weather in Paris last week put organizers behind schedule. To make up some ground, they added an extra match to the Court Philippe Chatrier lineup, pushing the main act until 10:36 p.m.
As the defending champion and world number 1, Djokovic must already have been worried about the damage this delayed start would do to his entire season. And that was before Musetti started playing the kind of tennis he produced last year when he beat Djokovic in Monte Carlo.
The 30th seed is an elegant player with a glorious one-handed backhand. Musetti used this photogenic shot to beat Djokovic in the second set tiebreak, then dominate him in the third set.
But despite repeatedly railing against his players’ box, Djokovic found another level when threatened, ultimately subduing Musetti with a strong late surge that belied the 15-year age difference. His final win was his 369th at the Majors, equaling Roger Federer’s tally.
“It’s unbelievable that you are here at this time in the morning,” Djokovic told the fans in his on-court interview. “There are children here who should be sleeping.”
After leaving the court, he was still excited about his own dramatic escape, telling reporters that while the scheme “could have been handled in a different way,” he didn’t want to go into it because there were other “great things ” were something to talk about. .
While the remaining fans at Court Philippe Chatrier were delighted with their extensive entertainment, many questions remain about the advisability of playing professional sport at such an anti-social hour. The two tours brought new rules to prevent these types of finishes in January, although the French Open is one of four majors and thus not subject to tour rules.
In the words of Ahmad Nassar, leader of the players’ union PTPA, it is “not okay” to expect athletes of Djokovic’s stature to compete against each other until the early hours.
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