2023-11-02 17:15:25
“Honestly, I don’t know if I’ll play in the round of 16, we’ll see how I feel tomorrow.” It was a little after 2:45 a.m. in the night from Wednesday to Thursday when the Italian Jannik Sinner, just out of Center Court, stammered a few words to the press. The world number 4 is supposed to return to the court in just fifteen hours to challenge Alex de Minaur. His trainer Darren Cahill can’t believe his eyes on Instagram either. “Happy for Jannik but no consideration for the health of the players with the Paris schedule. »
By mutual agreement, the Sinner clan finally decided to pass their turn due to “fatigue”. A strong decision announced around 3:20 p.m. which confronts the decision-makers of the circuit with their responsibilities.
Two players had stepped up to the plate in recent hours to defend their comrade and tackle the phenomenon. Casper Ruud congratulated the ATP and this “great way to help one of the best players in the world to recover and be as ready as possible when he finished his previous match at 2:37 this morning. 14.5 hours to recover… What a joke. » For his part, the Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka did not take care to use irony. “It’s crazy that the tournament doesn’t care and the ATP just follows what the tournament wants! Always the same story…”
Bravo @atptour ???????? way to help one of the best players in the world recover and be as ready as possible when he finished his previous match at 2:37 am this morning???????? 14,5 hours to recover.. what a joke???? https://t.co/X5GsgY7scj
— Casper Ruud (@CasperRuud98) November 2, 2023
Let’s summarize the matter. Ten matches, two per day from Monday to Friday, were scheduled in the evening this week at Bercy. These sessions were supposed to start at 7:30 p.m. at best, as indicated on the night spectator tickets. But, in reality, theory rarely meets practice. Already in 2022, these extended nighttime programs have caused a stir. Corentin Moutet can testify. Holder of the record for the latest victory with a match point converted at 2:52 a.m., the Frenchman then recounted having followed “micro nap” after “micro nap” from 5:30 a.m.… to present a pale version of himself around 7:30 p.m. facing Tsitsipas.
Spectators just as excited
And Gaspard in all this? This Thursday morning, the 11-year-old kid wasn’t really on task either. “He fell asleep in the car on the way back,” his father Dominique whispers. We ended up leaving around 1 o’clock when the Sinner match started. He told me he couldn’t take it anymore, that he just wanted to see the players come on the court and leave after the first two games. »
We know better as a souvenir for the famous “spectator experience”. It was the first time the tennis fan took his son, daughter and wife to see a “real match.” “They loved the duel between Rune and Thiem but then the rest…” Arriving there a little before 7:30 p.m., they waited for more than 2.5 hours like all the other evening pass holders.
Videos and photos circulated on social networks, reporting several thousand spectators at a standstill waiting for only one thing, for the last spectator match of the day, between the Frenchman Humbert and the German Zverev, to end. . “We almost wanted Humbert to lose in two sets,” continues Dominique. There was no food or water, and we were “lucky” since we were inside. One lady even felt unwell at the end, civil security had to intervene. »
“They don’t learn from their mistakes”
Outside, the same impatience consumed the onlookers. Looking back, they still say they are dismayed by the organization’s lack of consideration. “We were all left in the cold for almost 3 hours. The management was scandalous,” says Stéphane, originally from Saint-Maur-des-Fossés (Val-de-Marne) and who came on a scooter after the first set won by Zverev. But the worst thing is that already last year, there was a queue all the way to Bercy Park. They don’t learn from their mistakes, it’s lamentable. 24 hours later, we still have not received a single word of apology. No sound, no image. »
Asked by Le Parisien, the management of the Rolex Paris Masters has not yet wished to comment.
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