Australian Open organisers faced criticism over scheduling after a long quarter-final between Novak Djokovic and Taylor Fritz delayed the night session by more than two hours.
Djokovic battled past his American opponent 7-6 (3) 4-6 6-2 6-3 after three hours and 45 minutes, with the match starting later than expected because of Coco Gauff’s lengthy clash with Marta Kostyuk in the opening match of the day on Rod Laver Arena.
Extending the tournament to 15 days this year and scheduling only two matches in each day session was meant to avoid the sort of early-morning finishes that have become increasingly common.
But there have only been two days out of 10 so far where play has finished by midnight, and Daniil Medvedev and Emil Ruusuvuori played until 3.39am in their second-round clash.
Tuesday’s delay meant women’s defending champion Aryna Sabalenka did not start her match, which had been due to begin at 7pm, until 9.10pm, and Jannik Sinner and Andrey Rublev were not hitting their first balls until after 10.40pm.
Discussions took place about potentially moving one of the night session matches to a different court, but that ultimately did not happen.
Fritz said: “It just screws up your whole clock. I pray for those guys. I get it, matches go long some days. Like, today in particular, my match was long, the match before us was really long.
“But there’s got to be something they can do where people aren’t playing until 2, 3am, because I don’t think people really fully understand how much time we actually have to spend doing stuff after we finish playing. If you finish at 2am, there is no chance I’m going to sleep until 5, 6am.”
Wimbledon is unique in having an 11pm curfew, but play at the other grand slams has no cut-off point, and, with the average length of matches increasing markedly in recent years, what was rare in now commonplace.
Djokovic said: “We’ve seen in the past some late finishes. And I know for the crowds and for the tournament in a way it’s kind of exciting to see a 4am finish, a 3am finish. I was part of some of those. But it’s definitely not fun for us.
“The good thing about the quarter-finalist on the men’s section is we have two days. So I think that’s plenty of time to get a good sleep and recover.”
Djokovic will also need time to recover after battling past Fritz and into the semi-finals in Melbourne for the 11th time.
The world number one has never lost here once he has made it beyond the last eight, and there is no doubt how much he wants a 25th grand slam title.
Djokovic had beaten American Fritz in all eight of their previous meetings but this was certainly not straightforward. The first game alone lasted 16 minutes and the first set 84 minutes as they toiled in the heat.
Fritz, looking to reach a slam semi-final for the first time at the third attempt, remarkably saved all 15 break points he faced in the opening two sets, and he impressively levelled the contest.
It was just the third set he had won against the Serbian, with the other two both coming in a third-round clash here in 2021, when Djokovic suffered an abdominal injury but still managed to win in five.
But Djokovic began to turn the screw in the third set as Fritz started to feel his left foot, and successive breaks in the fourth set him on the way to a record-extending 48th slam semi-final.
Speaking to Nick Kyrgios on court, Djokovic said: “I suffered a lot in the first couple of sets. Also due to his high quality tennis. He was really kind of suffocating me from the back of the court.
“It was really difficult to find the right timing, it was really hot while the sun was still out. We all know Taylor has got one of the best serves in the world. I knew the kind of a threat he poses when he serves on such a high quality.
“Conversion of the break points was really poor but I managed to break him when it mattered. I think I upped my game midway through the third set all the way through to the end.”
Fritz was left with mixed feelings, saying: “I played a really high level for the first two sets, and they were a physical, tough two sets. It was like two and a half hours by the time we finished the two sets. I need to get to the point where I can do that for five hours.”
Osaka pulls out of home Japan Open through injury
Naomi Osaka will not play at her home Japan Open next week due to a back injury, organisers confirmed on Monday.
The 26-year-old was forced to retire during the last 16 against eventual champion Coco Gauff at the China Open in Beijing last week because of the same injury.
Osaka was on a three-match winning streak before her meeting with Gauff, having also registered her first comeback victory in two years earlier in the tournament when she beat Yulia Putintseva in the second round.
However, the four-time grand slam winner has not recovered in time and will not be able to play on home soil when the tournament starts on October 14.
"Due to injury, Naomi Osaka has decided to withdraw from the tournament," the Japan Tennis Association said in a statement.
Osaka is still scheduled to play in the Pan Pacific Open Tennis Tournament 2024 in Tokyo, which begins on October 21.
Her last appearance in her home country was at that tournament in 2022, when she withdrew in the second-round match with abdominal pains.
Gauff took a relaxed approach in China Open final
Coco Gauff said her China Open triumph over Karolina Muchova came down to being relaxed.
Gauff won 6-1 6-3 in just 76 minutes in Beijing to become the youngest winner of the tournament in 14 years.
The victory marked the 20-year-old's second WTA 1000 title, which makes her the second-youngest player since the format was introduced to win her first two finals.
And Gauff explained she took a more relaxed approach in Sunday's showdown.
"I was just like, 'This match is not going to change my life.' I knew regardless of the result today, I was proud. I was able to overcome and still work on things that I've been practising on, too, and stick to it," she said.
"When you get that far, you're just happy to be in the final. I think it's just being relaxed. My first final, when I was 15, was the worst because you're like, 'I'm never going to get this opportunity again,' which is completely not true.
"The experience of winning in the past, I realise that, yes, winning is great. It feels great right now. But tomorrow I'm going to wake up and it's a different day, 70% of the world doesn't know anything about whether I won or lost, probably even more."
Gauff has now claimed three straight wins over Muchova, who is yet to beat the American.
"I lost to her three times in a row. I'll say very similar losses. It was always the latest rounds of the tournaments when I got many matches under the belt," said Muchova.
"It's very physical with her. I felt like second [best] always in the rallies."
Alcaraz passes stern Wu test to progress in Shanghai
Carlos Alcaraz held his nerve against a spirited Wu Yibing to progress to the fourth round of the Shanghai Masters.
Having already beaten another of the home favourites, Shang Juncheng, in his opener, the Spaniard had to dig deep but prevailed 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 in one hour and 41 minutes on Sunday.
There was nothing to split the two in the opening set, though Wu caused some real problems with his power, and successfully defended two break points in the ninth game.
The tie-break was also tight, but Alcaraz found his edge at the right time, winning the last three points.
Buoyed by the home crowd, Wu started the second set strongly too, but Alcaraz absorbed the pressure well and got the only break of the match in a three-game winning run.
With his winning streak extended, Alcaraz will now face either Gael Monfils or Ugo Humbert in the next round.
Data Debrief: Alcaraz marches on
Alcaraz has put his shock US Open exit firmly behind him, with this his 11th win on the bounce since then.
He coped well with the early pressure Wu threw at him, and put in another solid performance, hitting 11 aces and winning 71% of his points at the net (5/7).
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
