Alexander Zverev called out the scheduling at the 2023 China Open after finishing his match close to 3 am local time.
Zverev wasn't scheduled to play so late, of course, but the schedule extended far beyond anybody's imagination, which pushed back the match. He technically could have been rescheduled to a different court in order to play the match sooner, which he alluded to in the post-match interview.
Ultimately, they didn't, as the match began around midnight and finished close to 3 a.m. local time. Zverev wasn't helped by the fact that he played against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who pushed him to three sets, extending the match further.
He did his media duties after the match and spoke, using the opportunity to call out the scheduling by pointing out that there were chances for them to play earlier and pushing it back to midnight wasn't really necessary.
I’m happy with the win. Obviously, it’s difficult to play til 3 am. I’m not sure it was the right call to keep us on this court. I think we should’ve changed courts. We should’ve gone on. There’s so many great courts on the stadium. So many opportunities where we could’ve played. I’m not sure we should’ve waited til past midnight to start the match, to be honest.
It's the latest instance of events prioritising viewership instead of player's comfort or health, as we've seen stuff like this happen far too often this year on Tour. Several players called it out, but it seems like it won't change unless the Tours step in.
Events will keep prioritising viewership and profits because their priority will always be that. A few messed-up sleeping schedules are not a high price to pay for the event but it is a problem for the players.
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