Coco Gauff has urged tennis bosses to avoid situations where players end up playing until the early hours of the morning following Novak Djokovic’s latest win.
Djokovic didn’t finish his match against Lorenzo Musetti until 3:07am local time which was less than seven hours before the start of Sunday’s play on the Philippe Chatrier court. The late encounter occurred as a result of poor weather which has caused havoc with the schedule in recent days. Before Djokovic’s match, officials opted to allow Grigor Dimitrov to finish his match on the same court which was a late addition to the schedule.
Gauff spoke about the situation following her latest victory in Paris where she beat Elisabetta Cocciaretto 6-1, 6-2, to reach the quarter-finals. The American concedes that it is a difficult situation to manage but players need to be protected.
“I feel like a lot of times people think you’re done, but really, 3:00 a.m., then you have press and then you have to shower, eat, and then a lot of times people do treatments, so that’s probably not going to bed until 5:00 at the earliest, maybe 6:00, and even 7:00,” Gauff commented.
“I definitely think it’s not healthy. It may be not fair for those who have to play late because it does ruin your schedule. I’ve been lucky I haven’t been put in a super late finish yet.”
Earlier this year, both the ATP and WTA introduced new rules aimed at preventing matches from running beyond 11pm. However, all four Grand Slams have their own governing bodies and therefore these rules do not apply to them. Wimbledon is the only major event that has a nighttime curfew in place due to its close location to residential housing.
“I think that’s something to look at. Maybe if a match is going long, possibly moving courts. Then I know it’s tough because it’s only one night match, and people obviously paid for those tickets,” Gauff continued.
“It’s a complicated thing but I think for the health and safety of the players it would be in the sport’s best interest I think to try to avoid those matches finishing — or starting after a certain time.”
Another player commenting on Djokovic’s late-night finish, Iga Swiatek, believes matches should be started earlier. However, the Pole adds that these matters are not up to players and they need to ‘accept anything that is going to come.’
However, Gauff believes she and others should be entitled to have more say when it concerns their health.
“I think that we’re their product, essentially, and I feel like tournaments are becoming more understanding. Some tournaments are more understanding than others.” She said.
“I can’t speak for other sports because I don’t know how their setup is run, but I think in general we should listen to the players more.
“I don’t want to complain too much about it because we are very blessed and privileged to be playing for a lot of money, and there are people working real jobs under worse conditions for less money and just trying to get by. So it’s a balance between two things.
“I definitely think there’s a balance of saying publicly I do agree that things can be run better behind the scenes. I think that tournaments are trying their best and players are trying their best. I just think we have to meet in a middle ground for the health and safety of everyone.”
2024 is the fourth year in a row that Gauff has reached the quarter-finals or better at Roland Garros. She is bidding to become the first American to win the tournament since Serena Williams in 2015.
