Novak Djokovic played his second night session match at this year's Roland Garros as he lost to Rafael Nadal in four sets.
It is a well known fact that neither Djokovic nor Nadal are great fans of having night sessions at tournaments. They make planning and maintaining and normal routine much harder for players.
Not only are the conditions tougher on the night what with the cooler temperatures making the ball heavier and consequently the points longer, but also the recovery routine post-match means that players often do not get in to bed until the early hours at best.
The latest Nadal-Djokovic encounter was yet another night session for both players, with the Serb coming out after the game to criticise the the nature of the idea:
"There are different opinions about the night sessions. I think they are starting too late, to be honest. But again, TV decides. That's the world we are living in. Broadcasters give the money. They decide."
The night session matches are starting at 21:00 local time and rarely end before 23:00. Last night's match ended at 01:15, meaning Nadal will have a harder time than usual preparing for future games.
Alexander Zverev also was keen to criticise them at the Madrid Open after he was forced to play the final, which he subsequently lost, after going to bed at 04:00 the night before.
By the time players get their recovery work done, fulfil their media duties then get into bed, it is normally a different time zone that they have to adjust to. This then has a knock-on affect to the following day's proceedings, practice and routine.
However, what with increased commercialisation of the sport, it is difficult to see how tournaments would want to get round it. The added revenue of having a night session is hugely profitable for the organisers, in turn leaving tennis at a cross-roads.
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