Tennis
Coco Gauff calls out French Open, tennis organizers over late match schedules: ‘It’s not healthy’
Coco Gauff isn’t happy with how the French Open, and tennis tournaments at large, are being run anymore.
Gauff ripped the French Open and the sport in general for its scheduling practices this weekend. Finishing matches at 3 a.m. local time, she said, simply isn’t healthy.
“Yeah, I definitely think finishing at 3 a.m. is — I feel like a lot of times people think you’re done, but really, 3 a.m., then you have [media responsibilities] and then you have to shower, eat, and then a lot of times people do treatments,” Gauff said Sunday, via ESPN. “So that’s probably not going to bed until 5 o’clock at the earliest, maybe 6 o’clock, and even 7 o’clock.
“I definitely think it’s not healthy. It may be not fair for those who have to play late because it does ruin your schedule. I’ve been lucky I haven’t been put in a super-late finish yet.”
Gauff’s comments came after her win over Elisabetta Cocciaretto, which sent her into the French Open quarterfinals for a fourth straight year. Gauff reached the finals in 2022, but fell to Iga Swiatek in straight sets. Swiatek beat her in the quarterfinals last year, too. Gauff will take on No. 8 Ons Jabeur next on Tuesday.
Though she hasn’t been directly impacted by a late match yet in Paris, Novak Djokovic’s win over Lorenzo Musetti in the third round ended at 3:07 a.m. local time on Sunday. While it was a five-set thriller, it didn’t start until just after 10:30 p.m. local time. There were some rain delays this weekend in Paris, too, which threw scheduling around.
Late finishes, however, are very common throughout the sport. It’s not only a problem at the French Open, but all of the Grand Slams. Fixing that issue, Gauff admitted, just isn’t that simple.
“What can be done? I know on the tour side they’re thinking about putting matches can’t start after a certain time,” Gauff said. “I don’t know if it’s going to be a Grand Slam rule, but I know on the WTA Tour — I think that’s something to look at. Maybe if a match is going long, possibly moving courts. Then I know it’s tough because, especially here, it’s only one night match, and people obviously paid for those tickets.
“It’s a complicated thing, but I definitely think for the health and safety of the players it would be in the sport’s best interest I think to try to avoid those matches finishing — or starting after a certain time. Obviously, you can’t control when they finish.”
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