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5 months ago
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Casper Ruud has claimed that tennis is one of the toughest sports in the world after Novak Djokovic's victory against Lorenzo Musetti in the French Open finished at 3am.
Fans branded Djokovic as 'phenomenal' after fighting back from two sets to one down to win his third round at 3.07am local time, following a four and a half hour battle.
Djokovic won 7-5, 6-7 (6), 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 as he continued his quest to retain the French Open.
The five set match smashed the previous record finish at the tournament, which was set when Rafael Nadal beat Jannik Sinner at 1:26am in the 2020 French Open.
Ruud, who finished as runner-up to Djokovic at last year's French Open, highlighted how tennis is one of the only sport which sees stars play into the early hours of the morning.
Casper Ruud says tennis is one of the toughest sports after Novak Djokovic's late win
Ruud stated there aren't many other sports where players are forced to play so late at night
Ruud highlighted the challenges of a late night finish after winning his own match near midnight
The Norwegian wrote on X: 'Can tennis be considered one of the toughest sports in the world? What others sports make you play/compete/perform for 4+ hours at 3 am?'.
One fan questioned Ruud over the timing of his post at 2am, with the Norwegian revealing he was watching Djokovic while recovering from his own late night win over Argetnina's Tomas Martin Etcheverry.
'I just finished my match 2 hours ago,' Ruud replied. After that I have to cool down on the bike for 15 minutes, do press/media, ice bath for 10 minutes, shower, eat and then get treatment/massage. I’m currently at the treatment stage.'
Following his victory, Djokovic addressed the crowd in French and joked he would join fans partying having stated it would be 'impossible to sleep.'
‘Thank you so much, it's amazing that you stayed. What time is it? 3 am, kids, you should be in bed. What are you doing here? You're so young,' Djokovic said.
‘No, thank you so much, that was perhaps the best match I’ve ever played here, the most exciting.
‘Who's going to sleep? It's impossible to sleep now with all this adrenaline. If you're going to party, I'm coming too. Let's go.’
Fans on social media hit out at the late finishing time of the match, with one claiming it was 'absolutely ridiculous.'
Djokovic's third round match against Lorenzo Musetti ended at 3.07am local time
They wrote: 'I think it’s absolutely ridiculous that the number 1 player in the world is playing a 5th set at almost 3AM. It’s also the reason why tennis is so unique and I love this sport, nothing comes close to this in any other sport'.
Another user stressed that making players play at 3am is 'inexcusable.'
They wrote: 'A phenomenal effort by Djokovic. But once we get past the euphoria of the win the fact is that he's now lost a rest day which is vital when you're looking to win a slam. Having any player play a slam match past 3am is just unacceptable and inexcusable.'
Another user reflected that Djokovic handled the situation in typical fashion.
They wrote: 'Djokovic casually completing a 5th set comeback win at 3am in #RolandGarros and smashing out a post match interview in fluent French is just classic Novak stuff'.
Fans claimed playing a match at 3am in the morning was 'ridiculous' and inexcusable'
One user added that Djokovic is 'a master of his craft'.
They wrote: 'Djokovic is a master if his craft at his age...4hrs and 29mins at 3am in Paris. What a man.'
Furthermore, one user stated that Djokovic is 'something else' for playing in such circumstances at the age of 37.
They wrote: '37 years old. Way past 3am. Well over four and a half hours of tennis. Novak Djokovic is something else entirely #rolandgarros'.
English (US)