Late-night matches don't only harm players - they have negative consequences for fans, ball kids, event employees, and all stakeholders involved.
(VIDEO) "They just need to go to sleep": PTPA speaks out after scheduling complaints from Andy Murray, Alexander Zverev, and Elena Rybakina
Tennis NewsThursday, 05 October 2023 at 13:50
The Professional Tennis Players' Association (PTPA) has spoken out against the ATP and WTA scheduling matches late into the night after complaints from the likes of Andy Murray, Alexander Zverev, and Elena Rybakina.
The PTPA was co-founded in 2019 by World No. 1 Novak Djokovic and Canadian player Vasek Pospisil with the aim of "safeguarding and supporting men's and women's professional tennis players worldwide." Most recently, they released a statement condemning the scheduling of matches to end in the early hours of the morning.
This has been an issue that has been brought up again and again throughout this season by players on both Tours. At the Canadian Open in August, Rybakina called the WTA's leadership "weak" after rain delays saw her clash with Daria Kasatkina conclude at 3 am.
PTPA speaks out after complaints from players
Prior to this, Murray had called the schedule at the Australian Open in January a 'farce' after his second-round clash with Thanasi Kokkinakis ended at 4:05 am.
"I don't know who it's beneficial for [...] Amazingly people stayed until the end, and I really appreciate people doing that and creating an atmosphere for us. Some people obviously need to work the following day and everything," he said.
More recently, Zverev became the latest player to criticize the scheduling at the China Open this week when his match against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina did not start until after midnight.
"Obviously, it’s difficult to play til 3am. I’m not sure it was the right call to keep us on this court. I think we should’ve changed courts," he said.
PTPA: late-night matches harm everyone
"Late-night matches don't only harm players. They have negative consequences for fans, ball kids, event employees, and all stakeholders involved," wrote the PTPA on X, formerly known as Twitter. The post also included a video with a comment from PTPA executive director Ahmad Nassar condemning late-night scheduling.
"Some tournaments have a curfew, which is laudable. Some tournaments have no curfew and seem to revel in late-ending matches and almost taking a victory lap when a match ends at 2am, 3am or even 4am local time.
"That from a playing perspective doesn't really make sense and neither does it make sense from a fan perspective, a broadcasting perspective and any commercial partner perspective. If you look in the stands and zoom out from the exhausted players at those matches, the fans are mostly gone. They have jobs, they have families and things to do, they just need to go to sleep," he said.
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