Andrey Rublev has joined the club of players who had to deal with a late-night match that ended after midnight and a limited amount of time to get ready for their next match at the Rolex Paris Masters.
Rublev’s match against Alex de Minaur started at 11 p.m. and ended two hours later, at 1 a.m. And although Rublev triumphed over his foe with scores of 4-6 6-3 6-1, the Russian was faced with the same dilemma as Sinner and Djokovic, as he too only had a small window of time to recover. Rublev only had 15 hours to recuperate before his big match against World No. 1 and US Open Champion, Djokovic.
Exhausted, Rublev threw shade at the ATP scheduling during his interview in a humorous way, “”[To get to sleep after a match like this] First of all I have dinner, treatment, arrive to the hotel, take a shower…I will go to sleep at 4, 5 am? Crazy. Amazing schedule, thank you! I am in the council of ATP and… ATP, we are together!” Rublev said while smiling.
Rublev and the schedule
Andrey Rublev unhappy with the schedule:
“I need to have dinner, treatment, take a shower, I don’t know when I’ll go to sleep. 4? 5? Crazy. Amazing schedule. Thank you. And I’m council of ATP. And ATP, we are together.” 👍
It’s past 1 a.m. local time.
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) November 4, 2023
Last week, Sinner opted to prioritize his health and withdraw from the Paris Masters after finishing his match at 2:37 AM and only being given little time to rest.
In his social media X account, Sinner wrote, “I am sorry to announce that I am withdrawing from today’s match in Bercy. I finished the match when it was almost 3 in the morning and didn’t go to bed until a few hours later. I had less than 12 hours to rest and prepare for the next game.”
“I have to make the right decision for my health and my body. The weeks ahead with the ATP Finals at home and the Davis Cup will be very important, now I focus on preparing for these important events. See you in Turin! Forza!”
Sono dispiaciuto di annunciare che mi ritiro della partita di oggi a Bercy. Ho finito il match quando erano quasi le 3 del mattino e sono andato a letto solo qualche ora più tardi. Avevo meno di 12 ore per riposarmi e preparare la prossima partita.
— Jannik Sinner (@janniksin) November 2, 2023
In tennis, late-night game finishes have long been frowned upon, but sadly, the practice endures to this day. For instance, the match between Andry Murray and Thanasi Kokkinakis ended at 4:05 in the morning at the Australia Open earlier this year, with very few people in the stands. Additionally, Elyna Rybakina stated during the August Montreal Open that the event’s schedule “destroyed” her after her quarterfinal match ended at three in the morning. The US Open also has a long-standing history of matches that drag on into the late hours of the night.
Inclement weather and day session matches that run longer than anticipated can cause a backlog for the evening matches, so, naturally, the players that are scheduled to play in the evening get extended to play into the wee hours of the night. The players have, however, long protested against this, and while the officials make every effort to prevent these situations in order to safeguard the players’ health, there are instances when they are powerless to do anything about it.
Read More News
Setback for Florida Panthers: Uncertain availability of injured center Sam Bennett
Cover Photo: YouTube