November 7, 2024

Novak Djokovic admitted his late-night finish at the French Open “could have been handled differently” while Coco Gauff branded playing into the early hours “not healthy”.

Djokovic endured the latest finish in Roland Garros history as he beat Lorenzo Musetti in five sets to reach the fourth round, with the last ball struck at 3:08am local time.

The rain had wrecked another day on the outside courts in Paris so tournament chiefs decided to squeeze in an unfinished match under the roof on Court Phillipe Chatrier before Djokovic took on Musetti in the night session.

But by the time Grigor Dimitrov had completed a four-set win over Zizou Bergs in a match lasting just shy of four hours in total, Djokovic, due to start at 8:15pm, did not get on the court until 10:40pm.

“I don’t want to get into it,” said the defending champion. “I have my opinions but I think there are great things to talk about as we are talking about this match and both Lorenzo’s and my performance stands out.

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