PARIS: Novak Djokovic believes “things could have been handled differently” by Roland Garros officials after winning his French Open third round match at a record 3:07 a.m. (0107 GMT) Sunday morning.
Defending champion and 24-time Grand Slam title winner Djokovic came from two sets to one down to defeat Lorenzo Musetti 7-5, 6-7 (6/8), 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 in a clash which only started just before 10:45 p.m. (2045 GMT) on Saturday.
It was easily the latest finish to a French Open tie and came after organisers squeezed in extra matches onto the two main show courts, which both have retractable roofs, to counter the scheduling chaos caused by a seventh day of rain in Paris.
“I don’t want to get into this debate,” said Djokovic initially before adding: “I think certain things could have been handled differently.
Iga Swiatek demolishes Potapova in 40 minutes to reach French Open quarter-finals
“There is a certain beauty in winning the match at three in the morning if it was the last of the tournament, but this isn’t the case.”
Djokovic’s four-hour 29-minute victory allowed the 37-year-old world number one to equal Roger Federer’s record of 369 Grand Slam match wins.
“Physically, I really went to my limits to win this match. When you play rallies of more than 20 shots, at two in the morning…. Who plays at two in the morning?” he added.
“We play few matches in our life at this time. The conditions were very heavy, it was very cold. You didn’t have many free points behind your serve.”
Djokovic must now recover to face Argentinian 23th seed Francisco Cerundolo in the round of 16 on Monday after avoiding what would have been his earliest exit at the French Open in 15 years.
Women’s world number one Iga Swiatek said night sessions need to start earlier for the sake of the public as well as players.
“I don’t know if the fans are watching these matches if they have to go to work next day or something when the matches are finishing at 2:00 or 3:00 a.m.,” said the defending champion.
“It’s not up to us. We need to accept anything that is going to come to us.”
In stark contrast to Djokovic’s marathon efforts, Swiatek reached the quarter-finals on Sunday with a 6-0, 6-0 demolition of Anastasia Potapova in just 40 minutes on the same Court Philippe Chatrier.
Despite his reluctance to play late into the night, Djokovic’s stamina and tenacity were widely praised.
“Djokovic is like Lebron James at 39, he fights until the end, he gives everything and he loves it, it’s incredible to see,” John McEnroe told NBC.
“I’m not kidding, this guy looked better physically than he did at the start of the match.”
Despite the late finish in Paris, it is the Australian Open in Melbourne which holds the Grand Slam record – in 2008, Lleyton Hewitt and Marcos Baghdatis played a match until 4:34 a.m.
At the US Open in New York, the latest finish was 2:50 a.m. in 2022 when Carlos Alcaraz defeated Jannik Sinner.
Wimbledon operates an 11 p.m. curfew with the 2012 clash between Andy Murray and Baghdatis ending at a more gentle 11:02 p.m.