CNN
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It was 4:05 a.m. in Melbourne when Andy Murray drilled a backhand winner previous Thanasi Kokkinakis, lastly ending a marathon contest which had began 5 hours and 45 minutes earlier.
Murray, a three-time grand slam champion and former world No. 1, had come from two units all the way down to beat Kokkinakis on the Australian Open, laying naked all of the grit and dedication that has typified his tennis profession.
Kokkinakis, too, deserves enormous credit score for persevering with to combat nicely into small hours of Thursday morning when most in Australia had lengthy been in mattress.
However because the gamers emptied all their vitality reserves on Margaret Court docket Enviornment, many got here away questioning why a match was nonetheless being performed previous 4 a.m.
Amongst them was Murray himself, who fumed at not being allowed to go to the bathroom having already taken a rest room break earlier within the match.
“It’s so disrespectful that the match has us out right here till three, f***ing 4 within the morning and we’re not allowed to take a piss,” the Scot vented.
Murray’s brother, doubles specialist Jamie, shared the frustration of his sibling, tweeting through the second-round match: “We will’t proceed to have gamers compete into the wee hours of the morning. Garbage for everybody concerned – gamers/followers/occasion workers.”
The Australian Open has a demanding schedule within the early rounds of the match; 5 matches are repeatedly performed every day on the present courts – three through the day session and two at night time.
The match between Murray and Kokkinakis was the second-latest end within the historical past of the Australian Open.
In 2008, Lleyton Hewitt secured victory over Marcos Baghdatis in 5 units at 4:33 a.m. after Roger Federer had taken 4 and a half hours to defeat Janko Tipsarevic earlier within the day.
These late finishes are excellent news for worldwide viewers in Europe and North America, who’re in a position to benefit from the drama and pressure of a five-set match, however much less good for these concerned within the spectacle itself.
“I actually suppose this can be a nightmare for tennis,” Simon Cambers, a tennis author and co-author of The Roger Federer Impact, tells CNN Sport.
“The gamers concerned in these night time matches are badly affected and their probabilities of development are slim.
“Only a few individuals in Australia would have stayed as much as watch the entire match and although worldwide viewing figures would have been good, the sport must be about greater than cash.
“Many others are affected, too, together with workers, officers, media, ball youngsters, all of whom must work ludicrous hours, which leaves them drained and never doing their jobs as nicely. What different elite sport performs till 4 a.m.? It’s loopy.”
CNN has contacted Tennis Australia concerning the scheduling of the Australian Open however didn’t instantly obtain a response.
Murray, who performs Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut within the third spherical on Saturday, was again training on Margaret Court docket Enviornment on Friday, eight hours after the conclusion of his match in opposition to Kokkinakis.
In that point, he would have fulfilled his media tasks, warmed down, had one thing to eat, traveled again to his resort, and, as soon as the adrenaline of the match subsided, slept.
Australian Open organizers, nevertheless, see no want to instantly change the match scheduling after the late-night end.
“We’ve to guard the matches,” Tennis Australia chief Craig Tiley informed Australian broadcaster 9. “For those who simply put one match at night time and there’s an damage, you don’t have something for followers or broadcasters.
“At this level, there is no such thing as a want to change the schedule. We at all times take a look at it once we do the debrief like we do yearly; we’ve had lengthy matches earlier than, at this level we’ve obtained to suit the matches in within the 14 days so that you don’t have many choices.”
Cambers thinks it might be value exploring the choice of shortening males’s matches to better of three units within the earlier rounds to ease stress on the schedule, then reverting to greatest of 5 from the fourth spherical onwards.
“Earlier than anybody begins yelling about custom, it has been finished earlier than, again within the Nineteen Seventies,” he says.
“In the event that they don’t need to change the schedule, then make matches shorter and fewer epic by rushing up courts and balls. That method, rallies and matches is not going to go away everybody spent and probably, it might lengthen a participant’s profession.”
Murray, who additionally wanted 5 units to defeat Matteo Berrettini within the first spherical, is scheduled to play within the first match of the night time session on Margaret Court docket Enviornment on Saturday.
Each he and opponent Bautista Agut, who got here from two units all the way down to beat Brandon Holt within the second spherical, might be hoping for faster wins this time round.
However historical past isn’t notably type to them on that entrance: the earlier event they met in Melbourne, Bautista Agut triumphed in 5 units and greater than 4 hours.
Maybe we must always put together for one more marathon curler coaster on the Australian Open.
