French Open: Boris Becker reacts to Novak Djokovic's late Roland-Garros finish - ‘Distortion of the tournament’
By James Hilsum
Updated 03/06/2024 at 09:27 GMT+1
Boris Becker added to the calls for late finishes at Roland-Garros to be reviewed, after Novak Djokovic finished his epic third-round clash against Lorenzo Musetti during the early hours of Sunday morning. The world No. 1 did not directly discuss the late finish himself, but women's world No. 3 Coco Gauff previously spoke about the ramifications of finishing a match so late.
‘I was not feeling comfortable’ - Djokovic reflects on win over Musetti
Video credit: SNTV
Boris Becker said he had “the greatest respect” for Novak Djokovic after finishing a five-set epic with Lorenzo Musetti at 3am, but questioned the extremely late finish for both players.
The tournament organisers have been forced to play catch-up due to the wet weather in Paris, and have crammed in more matches under the roof of the show-courts.
This meant that Djokovic’s match did not start until 10:37pm on Saturday evening, and Becker discussed the decision to start the match so late.
"I have the greatest respect for Djokovic for playing tennis until three o'clock - the same goes for Musetti,” the six-time Grand Slam champion told Eurosport Germany show - Matchball Becker.
"But in my opinion that's too late and a distortion of the tournament. By the time the players get to rest, it's seven or eight in the morning. You can simply forget about the day off after that.
“There's hardly any rest for the players and I don't think that's right. What would have happened if Djokovic and Musetti had said after the second set that they wanted to stop and continue playing the next day?
“I can't imagine that the tournament organisers would have kicked them out."
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French Open highlights - Djokovic beats Musetti in a five-set thriller
Video credit: TNT Sports
The world No. 1 was tight-lipped on the issue following his 7-5 6-7(6) 2-6 6-3 6-0 victory, and said: "I don't want to get into it” when quizzed on the scheduling of his match on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
However, women's world No. 3 Coco Gauff addressed Djokovic's late finish in her press conference following a straight-sets win over Elisabetta Cocciaretto on Sunday.
“People think finishing at 3am [means], ‘Oh, you’re done,’” Gauff said.
“But you play till 3am, and then you have press, and then you have to shower, eat, and then do treatment, so then you’re not going to bed until five at the earliest, maybe six or even seven.
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'I definitely think it's not fair' - Gauff reacts to Djokovic's late finish
Video credit: TNT Sports
“It’s not healthy, and maybe not fair for those that have to play late, because it does ruin your schedule. I haven’t been put in a super late finish yet.
“What can be done? I know on the tour side they’re thinking about putting a [rule in where] matches can’t start after a certain time.
“I don’t know if it’s going to be a Grand Slam rule. That’s something to look at, especially if a match is going long, possibly moving courts. Then it’s tough because - especially here - there’s only one night match and people have paid for those tickets.
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“It’s a complicated thing, but for the health and safety of the players, it would be in the sport's best interest to avoid those matches starting after a certain time. Obviously, you can’t control when they finish.”
Djokovic will at least have an earlier finish this afternoon when he begins his last-16 clash against Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo.
You can watch every day of the 2024 French Open live and on-demand on discovery+
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