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The road to hell may be paved with good intentions – but so is the road to an Australian Open finish after midnight.
The Melbourne Park slam has long been famous for its late-night finishes, and Tennis Australia was keen to change that reputation heading into 2024, making several changes to the tournament schedule.
TA has reduced the number of day session matches on Rod Laver Arena to two instead of the usual three features, while the start time has been delayed an hour; though play on the outside courts began as usual at 11am as crowds queued at various points to enter the grounds.
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But most notably there was the introduction of a 15th day to the tournament, the Sunday before the traditional Monday opening, spreading the first round over three days – allowing fewer matches to be scheduled per day, and adding buffer room in case of weather-forced delays (as seen in 2023 with both intense heat and heavy rain).
On day one, there was no risk of a late start to the night session on the main stadium court, with leading contender Jannik Sinner and Greek star Maria Sakkari easing through their first matches.
Sinner, who is mentored by top Australian coach Darren Cahill, posted a 6-4 7-5 6-3 triumph over Botic van de Zandschulp in 2hr 34min in an encouraging start to his Open bid.
Sakkari, who endured some testing times at grand slam level last year when beaten in the first round at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open, defeated Nao Hibino.
The former world No.3 was conducting a post-match interview on court as the crowd began filing out of RLA at 4:20pm, hours before Djokovic’s scheduled appearance. There was even enough time for Djokovic to have a pre-match hit on RLA before the night session ticket-holders came in.
It all seemed simple enough; but then came an 18-year-old Croatian named Dino Prizmic, to ruin everything… by being bloody good.
In perhaps the greatest on-paper mismatch possible – a qualifier in his first grand slam draw against a 10-time champion of that very slam – Prizmic took Djokovic to his limit over four hours, the longest first-round match of Djokovic’s career. The previous record-holding match was in 2005… before Prizmic was born.
And so a scheduled 7pm start (delayed, as always, for television) became a post-11pm finish, with defending women’s champion Aryna Sabalenka not hitting her first serve until 11:41pm.
This created the sad sight of a half-empty Rod Laver Arena welcoming Sabalenka back to the court where she and Elena Rybakina had one of the great finals in recent women’s slam history.
That would not have happened had the Australian Open adopted rules soon to be implemented by the ATP and WTA tours – including not allowing matches to go on court after 11pm unless approved by a supervisor, moving matches to an alternate court if they had not begun by 10:30pm, and night sessions not being allowed to begin after 7:30pm (with a recommended 6:30pm start).
Even the latter rule should avoid most marathon night sessions on tour, because even men’s matches last just three sets, but with a traditional 7pm evening session start at Melbourne Park (ideal for TV, and ticket-buyers who want to have dinner pre-match) and five-setters still held for the men, there were no guarantees as the first slam of the year began.
“We’ve listened to feedback from the players and fans and are excited to deliver a solution to minimise late finishes while continuing to provide a fair and equitable schedule on the stadium courts,” TA boss Craig Tiley said of the changes.
“The additional day will achieve this, benefiting scheduling for fans and players alike.”
While having just two day session matches meant the first ever Sunday start to the Open was on track for a reasonable finish, it took just one long men’s match to blow the schedule apart. So while Aryna Sabalenka’s dominant win in the second match of the session meant there was no Hewitt/Baghdatis-type 4am finish, the plan’s flaws were immediately exposed.
Admittedly as Tiley said, the plan was to “minimise late finishes”, not scrap them entirely. That’s impossible without either starting the night session earlier (bad for TV, bad for fans on weeknights and risky if the day session runs long), playing just one match (which makes the glamour session much less valuable as a ticket, especially if the match ends early due to injury), or reducing men’s slam matches down to three-setters (which few in tennis have the appetite for or interest in).
Plus a four-hour Djokovic match against a qualifier is an anomaly in many ways; there will probably still be nights at this tournament where Rod Laver Arena shuts before 11pm.
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But the extra day on the schedule creates a problem in itself; uneven breaks.
Players in the top half of the men’s draw and bottom half of the women’s draw were split over Sunday and Monday – the opposite halves were split across Monday and Tuesday. But with the usual schedule of two days per round resuming from Wednesday, there is suddenly a serious imbalance.
Australia’s Alex de Minaur, for example, opens his campaign on Monday night at Rod Laver Arena against Milos Raonic; that’s very normal.
What’s not normal is his potential second-round opponent, Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi, winning his tournament opener at around 1:40pm on Sunday – meaning he’ll have something like 32 extra hours of rest before facing the de Minaur-Raonic winner on Wednesday.
Arnaldi didn’t particularly need the extra break, given he’s just 23 years old and won in straight sets, but what about Djokovic, who came in under a slight injury cloud due to his wrist and had to play much harder than anyone would’ve expected?
He’ll have something like 16 hours extra to recover over his second-round opponent, either Alexei Popyrin or Marc Polmans, with the Aussie pair facing off in the second match on John Cain Arena on Monday. And, at 36, that may genuinely matter to Djokovic (who is obviously in incredible shape… but is still 36.)
Given how Djokovic often battles a niggling injury throughout the tournament, that minor edge could be just enough to swing the overall result, according to US great Jim Courier.
“So this tournament is 15 days for the first time ever. Roland-Garros has been 15 days long now for quite some time. Wimbledon, 14 days. The US Open, 14 days,” Courier said on Nine during commentary of Djokovic’s win over Prizmic.
“Djokovic is lucky to be playing this match on the first day of this tournament because whoever wins this match is going to get two days off after this to recover.
“I would say that, if I were on his team, I would be strongly encouraging him to ask to play first here and at Roland-Garros because, at his age, he does get a little bit sore and have some issues.
“And having that extra day off through the tournament, this might make the difference for him. You’re still only playing seven matches, if you win it.”
Realistically Djokovic was going to be the overwhelming favourite against whoever he faces in the second round either way, but in a sport of minor edges – tiny percentage differences in how often a player gets his first serve in, or returns successfully, or whatever – everything adds up. Djokovic, famously fastidious, knows that more than most.
And it would be much worse if the system resulted in one player getting a much shorter break, especially 24 hours or less, as compared to one player getting an extra break. At some point, the benefit of recovery time tails off.
But it’s still an imbalance that has been created in an effort to solve a problem. A problem that immediately returned on the very first night of the new rules intended to solve it.
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A RECORD CROWD … FOR THE OPENING DAY
The trams were crowded and the streets leading towards Rod Laver Arena were unusually busy on Sunday morning as the Australian Open entered a new era.
The 119th edition of the tournament began on a Sunday for the first time in a move organisers claimed would help to reduce the number of matches finishing after midnight.
The truth of this claim will not be able to be fully judged until the completion of what is now a 15-day grand slam tournament, with five-time finalist Andy Murray among the sceptics – and the Djokovic marathon has, so far, made the Scot look smart.
What is true is the certainty that the decision to align itself with Roland Garros in spreading the opening round over three days will prove a financial boon for Tennis Australia.
After the pandemic ravaged the organisation’s finances, TA’s economic position is on the rebound and its coffers will have been boosted by the 58,623 fans who attended day one.
It comes hot on the heels of news that the Victorian Government forgave a $43 million loan it extended to TA during the pandemic, according to The Financial Review.
TA exhausted financial reserves of almost $80 million during an extremely testing period in which it covered the quarantine costs associated with hosting the AO in 2021 and 2022.
But the organisation posted a profit of $19 million for the past financial year and the additional day of action at Melbourne Park is another timely boost for 2023-2024.
Having sprinkled the qualifying week with exhibition matches and events led by “A Night with Novak”, almost 90,000 fans attended Melbourne Park between Monday and Saturday.
With Saudi Arabian interests looking to find a window in a busy calendar to host a significant tennis tournament, importantly the numbers around Australia have been strong this summer.
The cumulative attendance for the United Cup in Perth and Sydney, along with regular tour events in Brisbane, Adelaide and Hobart was 321,069, which breaks a record set in 2020.
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BERRETTINI’S DISAPPOINTING SLIDE CONTINUES
When Matteo Berrettini seized the opening set of the Wimbledon final against Novak Djokovic in 2021, the sky seemed to be the limit for the impressive Italian.
Even though Djokovic was able to regain his footing at the All England Club to secure his sixth Wimbledon title, Berrettini played with purpose in his first outing in a major final.
The powerful right-hander followed up with a run to the quarter-finals at the US Open and a semi-final appearance at Melbourne Park in 2022 when becoming the first Italian man to reach the last four at the Australian Open.
But fortune and fitness have deserted the talented 27-year-old since then.
While Djokovic has gone on to claim another four major titles since their Wimbledon final, Berrettini has played only four majors since his loss to Rafael Nadal in the 2022 AO.
The first Italian man to reach at least the quarterfinals of all four majors, the 27-year-old has endured a wretched run since then.
He missed Roland Garros in 2022 after undergoing surgery on a hand. After winning the major lead-in tournament to Wimbledon, the Queen’s Club Championship, Berrettini was forced to withdraw from the grass court major after testing positive to Covid-19.
A run to the quarterfinals at the US Open signalled he was still a threat at major level. But last year was largely a write off. Andy Murray defeated in a five set thriller in the first round of last year’s Australian Open. He skipped Roland Garros due to a back problem.
Berrettini did manage to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon, where he was beaten by eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz. But after losing in the second round at the US Open, he brought his season to an early close.
On the eve of his return to Melbourne Park, he was forced to withdraw with a foot injury. He must be pondering when his fortune will change.
KUBLER CHARGE ENDS IN HEARTBREAK ON A TESTING DAY FOR THE AUSSIES
Not long before midnight on the opening day of the Australian Open, popular Queenslander Jason Kubler had the misfortune of becoming the third local out of four starters to fall short of progressing to the second round.
Kubler has endured more than his fair share of wretched luck with injuries as well and required a wildcard to compete this year.
After a promising start against Daniel Elahi Galan, he fought particularly hard to force the match to a deciding super tiebreaker, only to fall 2-6 6-3 7-6 (3) 4-6 7-6 (8) in a match lasting one minute shy of five hours. Not surprisingly, both men were staggering near the finish.
Earlier in the afternoon, Sydney’s Chris O’Connell became the sole Australian winner when coming from behind to edge Chilean Cristian Garin 3-6 7-5 4-6 6-1 7-5 in 4hr 21min.
Qualifier Dane Sweeny fought ferociously in his grand slam debut when beaten by 22nd seed Francisco Cerundolo 3-6 6-3 6-4 2-6 6-2 in 3hr 23min.
Wildcard Adam Walton also fought hard in his opening match against honorary Melburnian Matteo Arnaldi, who has spent the past month in the Victorian capital with his Australian girlfriend, when beaten 7-6 (5) 6-2 6-4.
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