Andy Murray proposed a solution to protect tennis players from late night finishes at the Australian Open after the former No. 1 played in one of the Grand Slam's latest matches in history.
In a grueling five-set second round match, England's Murray defeated Australia's Thanasi Kokkinakis from two sets down to win in a whopping 5 hours, 45 minutes with a 4:05 a.m. local time finish. This was the second-latest finish in the history of the Australian Open.
The 35-year-old went on to lose in the third round to Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut on Saturday night but wasn't going to leave Melbourne Park without giving his two cents on the issue.
"Finishing matches at 4 in the morning isn't good for the players," Murray said after the loss. "I would also argue it's not good for the sport, anyone involved in it.
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"I think the U.S. Open went to playing two matches in the day session. That would stop the day matches running into the night session starting too late. I think that's quite a simple one that you could look at. You'd still get quality matches during the day. The people who bought ground passes would get to see more of the top players, which would be excellent for them."
The way the Australian Open has been scheduling the competition in Week 1 is by having one men's singles day session match at Rod Laver Arena typically proceeded by two women's matches.
"You could also potentially bring the night sessions slightly earlier, as well, like 6:00 or 6:30," Murray said. "That time, those few hours, can make a difference to the players. I think that's something that's probably worth considering moving forwards."
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Murray admitted that after the early morning match finish on Friday, he was only able to sleep from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. local time before having to go to Melbourne Park to have "seven or eight blisters drained." He said he went back to the hotel after that to get a few more hours of sleep and finished the exhausting day with a 15-minute hit and an ice bath session.
Djokovic attested to Murray's proposal on the late night issue after securing a spot in the Australian Open fourth round on Saturday night.
"For the crowd, it's entertaining, it's exciting, to have matches midnight, 1, 2, 3 a.m," Djokovic said. "For us, it's really grueling. Even if you go through and win, prevail in these kind of matches, you still have to come back. You have your sleeping cycle, rhythm disrupted completely, not enough time really to recover for another five-setter."
The latest finish in Australian Open history was in 2008 when Australian Lleyton Hewitt secured a victory over Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis in five sets at 4:33 a.m.
The final say of tournament scheduling ultimately comes down to what works best for television broadcast programming and what supervisors of the tournament believe will be best for the fans.
