Novak Djokovic’s match against Lorenzo Musetti at the 2024 French Open concluded at 3 AM, marking the latest finish in Roland Garros history. Djokovic triumphed with a scoreline of 7-5, 6-7, 2-6, 6-3, 6-0. The match’s late finish drew criticism from Boris Becker, who described it as “mad and frankly unprofessional.”
Boris Becker responded critically to a tweet by coach and commentator Mark Petchey, who highlighted the challenges Djokovic faced due to the late finish. Petchey stated on Twitter, “If @DjokerNole wins @rolandgarros it will be his greatest achievement ever in a single event. Madness to finish at 3am from a recovery point of view. When a tournament is struggling this much to catch up through no fault of its own, they should just call a Monday Final early so this doesn’t happen.” Becker expressed his disapproval of the situation, aligning with Petchey’s concerns about the scheduling and its impact on player recovery.
Becker responded to this agreeing and said the only sport that is any way similar is boxing. But that when they fight late, it is only ever every six months instead of most days during a Grand Slam. “Mark , you make very good point. Think it’s mad and frankly unprofessional from the organisers to allow matches past 1am …which other sport has to deal with something similar? Maybe boxing but they have 1 fight every 6 month.”
The issue of late finishes has been ongoing for years at major tournaments. Previously, matches concluded at dusk, but recent trends have shifted towards scheduling late sessions to accommodate TV broadcasters, often resulting in extremely late finishes. This change aims to maximize television viewership and revenue but has adverse effects on players’ recovery and performance.Wimbledon, the US Open, and the Australian Open have also experienced very late finishes, sometimes as late as 4 AM. Among these, Wimbledon is the only tournament with a curfew, attempting to mitigate the problem to some extent. However, the shift to late-night sessions remains a significant concern for the players and the sport’s overall professionalism.