Nadal & Djokovic slam French Open organisers for late QF: 'they give money, they decide'

Two of the tennis greats, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have slammed the French Open 2022 organizers, after agreeing that their French Open 2022 clash on Tuesday night started too late. The 21-time Grand Slam champion Nadal earned a four-set victory with the scores of 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(4) in the quarter-finals at Roland Garros and advanced into the semis. The match lasted for over four hours, starting at around 9 PM local time on Tuesday, and finishing after 1 AM, local time on Wednesday.

According to a report by BBC, on being asked if it was too late to play, during the post-match media interaction, Nadal agreed and said, "It is without a doubt. I understand television pays a lot of money but we need to find a balance." At the same time, the 20-time Grand Slam champion and the world no. 1 Djokovic mentioned in his comments that the broadcasters have the call on this, as they pay the money. "Broadcasters say it's going to be night match, day match. They give the money. They decide,” he added.

Temperatures dropped down to about 10C during the Nadal vs Djokovic clash

The match commenced with Nadal winning the first set before Djokovic made a strong comeback in the second. The Australian Open champion reasserted himself with an impressive third set triumph, as the World No. 1 seemed the strongest at the start of the fourth set. While the defending champion was denied an attempt to serve and force a decider, Nadal powered to his eighth win over the Serb at the French Open after over four hours of intense battle.

While the game took longer to conclude, temperatures at the Court Philippe-Chatrier kept dropping as spectators wrapped themselves up in blankets. It is pertinent to mention that the French Open introduced night sessions for the 2021 edition, although they weren’t fully open to fans due to the Covid-19 regulations in the country. The night games get broadcasted on Amazon Prime in France and begin at 20:45 local time. 

Meanwhile, Djokovic further revealed his thoughts on the night matches and said, “There are differences of opinions about the night sessions. I think they are starting too late. But again, TV decides. That's the world we are living in." Having said that, the Spaniard has now won consecutive matches of more than four hours. Nadal defeated  Felix Auger-Aliassime on Sunday in the fourth round match, which lasted for four hours and 20 minutes. On the other hand, the quarterfinal match on Tuesday night lasted for four hours and 11 minutes.

(Image: AP)