Novak Djokovic request ignored as Serb gets dreaded French Open fate despite plea | Tennis | Sport
Novak Djokovic has been shafted with the match schedule that nobody wants, as he will face Austrian qualifier Filip Misolic in Saturday’s night session. Usually the primetime slot at the French Open, this time players were dreading getting the evening call-up as it clashes with the Champions League final.
The three-time champion was among the players asking the tournament not to put him on the main stadium court on Saturday evening so he could tune in to support PSG. But his plea went unanswered, and he will take to the court at 8.15pm local time – 45 minutes before kickoff in Munich.
Djokovic also had to play the night session match on the middle Saturday last year, clashing with Real Madrid’s game against Dortmund.
He took to the court to face Lorenzo Musetti much later than planned when another match was added to the schedule to be finished following rain delays, and play finished around 3am local time.
The world No. 6 had been hoping to avoid a repeat this year, as he admitted he was planning to watch PSG take on Inter Milan on Saturday night and even sent a cheeky message to those in charge.
“It’s going to be PSG that I will support. I will definitely watch it if I’m not playing night session. Yeah, that will be nice. FYI, Roland Garros schedule…” he said with a smile after his second-round win on Thursday.
Djokovic wasn’t the only one who wanted to avoid a nighttime match. French No. 1 Arthur Fils has shared his excitement for PSG’s final all week and joked that his next opponent, Andrey Rublev, could request the evening slot to get in his head.
The 14th seed said: “I don’t know what Rublev ask. Maybe he asked to play night session just to bother me.
“No, I’m kidding. I don’t know. Let’s see about the schedule. Let’s hope I’m playing in the afternoon but not during the night.”
Tournament director Amelie Mauresmo addressed concerns surrounding the night session’s clash with the Champions League final. At the nearby Parc des Princes, which is less than a kilometre away from Stade Roland Garros, tens of thousands of PSG fans are expected to watch the game on big screens.
“The fact that there’s the Champions League final won’t change much for us anyway,” she said.
“We’re trying to do our utmost for the tournament. We are very happy to PSG. We’re trying to do our job organising this tournament. 15,000 people will come over here to watch tennis tomorrow. We’ll try to give them the best possible match.”
Djokovic will be hoping to make light work of Misolic, the world No. 153 who stunned 27th seed Denis Shapovalov in a four-hour match on Thursday, so he can try and catch the end of the game.
Misolic, 23, is playing in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament for just the second time in his career, having reached the second round here 12 months ago. And the qualifier will be delighted to get top billing to face 24-time Major winner Djokovic, no matter what it clashes with.
