“Of course I understand the other part of the business, without a doubt, that televisions pays a lot of money to have matches that late, then the tournament makes money and then the players make money, no?' Nadal said. Here, they would have been better off with hot-water bottles. We are used to seeing iced towels being used to cool the athletes down. Tennis is supposed to be a warm-weather sport, especially when you’re playing on red clay. But the longer this went on, the more they began to realise that they were about to miss their last Metro home. The crowd started off so excited that the very first game had to be paused while they yelled and screamed. And yet, the French Tennis Federation – in their greed for cash – have invented this nonsense of a night session, then flogged it off to Amazon Prime for £12.8m. Oh tennis stop doing it to yourself.”Įvery time these giants collide on a tennis court, it feels like a collector’s item: a masterpiece that deserves a suitably grand stage. “8.45pm start time for a best of five-set match involving two of the three greatest players ever to pick up a racket. “Impressive scheduling of the Rafa Novak epic,” he said on Twitter, with heavy sarcasm. This 15,000-seater stadium had lost perhaps a quarter of its fans by the end of Nadal's 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 victory.įormer world doubles No1 Jamie Murray was among those questioning the French Open’s thinking. The magnificent competitive fire of their contest was undermined by the chill in the air, which sent some spectators scuttling for the exits before the third set had even begun. But can they ever have found themselves in such bleak and wintry conditions? Otherwise it will be Daniil Medvedev.ĭjokovic and Nadal have played all over the world, under lights, under roofs and under the hot sun.

Alexander Zverev can do so by winning the French Open. The result means that Djokovic is guaranteed to lose his world No1 ranking in just under a fortnight, although it is yet to be decided who will replace him. I'm proud of fighting and staying to the last shot. “But TV decides, that's the world we live in. “I think they are starting too late,” said Djokovic afterwards. An unexpected level but I am super happy.' 'To win against Novak, there is only one way: to play at your best from the first point to the last. All the history that we have together, today was another one. Always to play against him is an amazing challenge. “Novak is one of the best players in history without a doubt.

'It was a very tough match,” Nadal told Marion Bartoli in his on-court interview. The legendary clay-court champion had to overcome not only his great rival Novak Djokovic, but also bitterly cold temperatures in a contest which he finished with a flourish at 1.15am. Rafael Nadal has won 110 matches at Roland Garros, but never one like this.

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