Novak Djokovic: Late Australian Open finishes definitely not fun for players

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Australian Open organisers confronted criticism over scheduling after a protracted quarter-final between Novak Djokovic and Taylor Fritz delayed the night time session by greater than two hours.

Djokovic battled previous his American opponent 7-6 (3) 4-6 6-2 6-3 after three hours and 45 minutes, with the match beginning later than anticipated due to Coco Gauff’s prolonged conflict with Marta Kostyuk within the opening match of the day on Rod Laver Arena.

Extending the match to fifteen days this 12 months and scheduling solely two matches in every day session was meant to keep away from the type of early-morning finishes which have grow to be more and more frequent.

But there have solely been two days out of 10 to date the place play has completed by midnight, and Daniil Medvedev and Emil Ruusuvuori performed till 3.39am of their second-round conflict.

Tuesday’s delay meant girls’s defending champion Aryna Sabalenka did not begin her match, which had been because of start at 7pm, till 9.10pm, and Jannik Sinner and Andrey Rublev had been not hitting their first balls till after 10.40pm.

It is Sinner who will face Djokovic on Friday after he claimed a 6-4 7-6 (5) 6-3 victory at 1.22am.

Discussions came about about probably shifting one of many night time session matches to a unique courtroom, however that in the end did not occur.

Fritz stated: “It just screws up your whole clock. I pray for those guys. I get it, matches go long some days. Like, today in particular, my match was long, the match before us was really long.

“But there’s got to be something they can do where people aren’t playing until 2, 3am, because I don’t think people really fully understand how much time we actually have to spend doing stuff after we finish playing. If you finish at 2am, there is no chance I’m going to sleep until 5, 6am.”

Wimbledon is exclusive in having an 11pm curfew, however play on the different grand slams has no cut-off level, and, with the typical size of matches growing markedly lately, what was uncommon in now commonplace.

Djokovic stated: “We’ve seen in the past some late finishes. And I know for the crowds and for the tournament in a way it’s kind of exciting to see a 4am finish, a 3am finish. I was part of some of those. But it’s definitely not fun for us.

“The good thing about the quarter-finalist on the men’s section is we have two days. So I think that’s plenty of time to get a good sleep and recover.”

Djokovic will even want time to recuperate after battling previous Fritz and into the semi-finals in Melbourne for the eleventh time.

The world primary has by no means misplaced right here as soon as he has made it past the final eight, and there’s no doubt how a lot he needs a twenty fifth grand slam title.

Djokovic had crushed American Fritz in all eight of their earlier conferences however this was actually not easy. The first recreation alone lasted 16 minutes and the primary set 84 minutes as they toiled within the warmth.

Fritz, seeking to attain a slam semi-final for the primary time on the third try, remarkably saved all 15 break factors he confronted within the opening two units, and he impressively levelled the competition.

It was simply the third set he had gained in opposition to the Serbian, with the opposite two each coming in a third-round conflict right here in 2021, when Djokovic suffered an belly damage however nonetheless managed to win in 5.

But Djokovic started to show the screw within the third set as Fritz began to really feel his left foot, and successive breaks within the fourth set him on the way in which to a record-extending forty eighth slam semi-final.

Speaking to Nick Kyrgios on courtroom, Djokovic stated: “I suffered a lot in the first couple of sets. Also due to his high quality tennis. He was really kind of suffocating me from the back of the court.

“It was really difficult to find the right timing, it was really hot while the sun was still out. We all know Taylor has got one of the best serves in the world. I knew the kind of a threat he poses when he serves on such a high quality.

“Conversion of the break points was really poor but I managed to break him when it mattered. I think I upped my game midway through the third set all the way through to the end.”

Fritz was left with combined emotions, saying: “I played a really high level for the first two sets, and they were a physical, tough two sets. It was like two and a half hours by the time we finished the two sets. I need to get to the point where I can do that for five hours.”

Sinner is the one participant within the males’s draw but to drop a set, with the Italian coming from 5-1 down within the second-set tie-break earlier than sealing victory in opposition to Rublev, who’s the primary man within the open period to lose his first 10 grand slam quarter-finals.

Sinner believes he’ll be capable of recuperate absolutely forward of Friday’s match, saying: “Obviously it’s late now, by the time I get to sleep. But tomorrow I’m going to hit half an hour, 45 minutes, really late in the day, just to touch the ball a little bit.

“Then after, trying to sleep as much as possible, trying to recover. And that’s it. I feel quite confident that my body is going to recover in the best possible way.”