By Randy Walker
@TennisPublisher
Novak Djokovic created more tennis history for himself early Sunday morning at Roland Garros.
His 7-6, 6-7(6), 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 win over Lorenzo Musetti concluded at 3:06 am local time in Paris, the latest finishing match in the history of the French Championships. The French Tennis Federation has staged night matches only since 2021 after the roof on the Chatrier Stadium Court was completed for the 2020 tournament. However, it was decided that only one match be played during the night session, as Chris Clarey wrote in the New York Times in 2022 here https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/01/sports/tennis/french-open-night-matches.html “largely because the French decided to do them their own way by scheduling just one match in that slot instead of two, the usual offering at other Grand Slam events. Guy Forget, the former French Open tournament director who was part of that decision, said it was made ‘so matches would not end at 3 a.m.’” However due to lengthy matches on Chatrier on Saturday, namely Alexander Zverev beating Tallon Griekspoor in four hours, 14 minutes, Grigor Dimitrov having to finish his win over Zizou Bergs under the roof due to rain, but needing five sets to do so, Djokovic and Musetti did not take the court until about 10:30 pm. Not withstanding, Djokovic and Musetti then played for four hours, 29 minutes.
Here’s a look at the latest finishing matches at the other four major championships
Australian Open
2008 – At 4:34 am local time in Melbourne, local favorite Lleyton Hewitt and Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus complete the latest concluded match in the history of major championships and one of the Australian Open’s most extraordinary matches, Hewitt prevailing 3-6, 7-5, 7-5, 6-7 (4), 6-3 in 4 hours, 45 minutes to advance into the fourth round. Hewitt, who calls the victory “one of my best wins mentally, “ leads 5-1 in the fourth set and holds a match point at 5-2, before Baghdatis rallies to extend the match deeper into the early morning hours. Due to a back-log of matches, including top-seed Roger Federer’s 10-8 in the fifth-set third-set survival against Janko Tipsarevic, the match does not start until 11:47 pm the previous day. The previous latest finish of a match was at the 2007 Australian Open, when Italy’s Andreas Seppi defeated American Bobby Reynolds 6-1, 6-7 (4), 6-7 (5), 7-6 (3), 6-3 at 3:34 am (play delayed during the day due to excessive heat, causing for the match to start at 11:45 pm local time).
U.S. Open
2022 – Carlos Alcaraz closed out a 6-3, 6-7 (7), 6-7 (0), 7-5, 6-3 win over Jannik Sinner in the second-longest and latest finishing match in U.S. Open history, concluding at 2:50 am. The five hour and 15 minute quarterfinal marathon was 11 minutes shorter than the longest-ever U.S. Open match, Stefan Edberg beating Michael Chang in 5:26 in the U.S. Open semifinals in 1992. Read my story here: https://www.worldtennismagazine.com/archives/21278
Wimbledon
2012 – Andy Murray beats Marcos Baghdatis 7-5 3-6 7-5 6-1 in the third round of Wimbledon in a match that finishes under the Wimbledon roof at 11:02 pm local time, the latest finish in Wimbledon history – two minutes passed the locally imposed 11 pm deadline for tennis to finish. “I was under the impression I was stopping at 11 regardless of what the score was – even if it was in the middle of a game,” Murray says. “I am obviously glad I managed to get the finish. The atmosphere at the end was excellent.”
