Andy Murray is no fan of matches finishing late, and he voiced his thoughts on the matter following his Citi Open exit.
The Washington tennis event is known as an event with rather brutal conditions with the heat and humidity, but this year we've seen rain interrupting play. The postponement of some matches had players playing two matches on Friday in order to catch up with the schedule.
Murray would have been one of those players required to play two matches in one day had he beaten Taylor Fritz. The Brit had his chances, won a set but ultimately lost in a very close 3-setter. After the match, he talked about the logistical side of tennis and matches finishing late.
Well, I could have done it. It just wouldn't have been very pretty, to be honest (smiling). You know, it's brutal conditions out there. That's obviously a long match. Yeah, I'm not really sure what else they can do in that situation.
You know, I have been in situations before here where the matches -- not just here but in other tournaments -- where the matches are finishing at, like, 2:00, 3:00 in the morning, and that also, for me, is unacceptable. So I'm not really sure what else you can do except, like, shorten the format or something if there is rain delays Yeah, I don't know.
Late finishes have been a problem at several events, notably the Mexican events considering that play starts rather late which pushes the schedule far beyond midnight. Andy Murray saw his match at the Australian Open earlier this year finish like that and he wasn't a fan back then either.
It's a tough one for tennis players because it completely throws off any kind of rhythm you created for yourself and he's not the only one who spoke out against that. He's been very vocal though.
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