THE CURFEW AND SCHEDULING DILEMMA THAT TENNIS JUST CAN'T GET RIGHT

Taylor Fritz argues with the Wimbledon supervisor after his first-round match was suspended mid-match. (Getty/Mike Hewitt)

In the past two Australian Open editions, Daniil Medvedev has been at the centre of early morning drama in front of near-empty stadiums.

He fought back from two sets down against Emil Ruusuvuori in 2024, in a match which finished at 3:39am. A year later, Medvedev was on the receiving end of a heart-breaking five-setter, as the first-round epic concluded six minutes before 3am.

"After every match I'm in the locker room, I'm destroyed," the former US Open winner admitted after his five-set quarter-final victory in 2024 at Melbourne Park.

By entering the code TFS2025, you will receive 15% off the RRP on all non-sale items when you shop online at www.racquetworld.com.au

Novak Djokovic and Lorenzo Musetti famously went the distance at last year's Roland-Garros in a four-hour and 29-minute thriller, which ticked eight minutes past 3am — shattering the previous record of 1:25am.

Now, breaking records is always pretty cool, but in terms of a spectacle and a tennis product, who really wants to see a match played in empty stands? What other sport battles it out during hours in which players should be asleep?

Or whatever happened to nurturing player safety and wellbeing? Should that not be the top priority?

But tournaments around the globe don't seem to give a toss. It's almost as if they think it's ludicrous themselves, yet opt for insanity anyway.

Then there's Wimbledon, a tournament entrenched in prestige and tradition, who go about things its own way, regardless of how 'old school' some rules might be interpreted.

As Taylor Fritz and Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard were about to entertain the crowd with a fifth-set earlier this week, the match was postponed at 10:17pm despite the curfew strictly agreed upon for 11pm.

Two massive servers in the game, combining for 57 aces in the first four sets, would probably indicate to the average fan that long rallies would come at a premium.

So why not play out an extra few games and see where it leads before making a decision?

Time and time again, tennis always finds a way to shoot itself in the foot when, actually, it appears to require straightforward common sense, and that's the frustrating part.

Ben Shelton was one service hold away from wrapping up his second-round match against Aussie Rinky Hijikata, but instead, the chair umpire and tournament supervisor had other ideas, as they made the call to suspend the match at 9:30pm on Court 2 due to poor lighting.

"We both said to the umpire, you know, I don't think we're going to finish this set, I think we should stop now and come back at the beginning of the set the next day," Hijikata explained.

"I don't know what the reasoning was, but they told us to keep playing, and by 3-1 or 4-2, it was already dark. And then we're playing in the dark for like 10, 15 minutes."

The following day, it took Shelton only 70 seconds to hold to love and win the match.

Why couldn't he have had the chance to end it the day prior? If it went to 5-5, then fine, it would make sense to intervene.

Again, it's strange how common sense never prevails in these types of scenarios.

Scheduling has also clouded the sport's decision-making capabilities in recent times.

Roland-Garros has come under fire for its treatment towards women by scheduling only one match for the night session, which is prioritised for the men.

"I hope whoever is making the decision, I don't think they have daughters, because I don't think they want to treat their daughters like this," two-time Wimbledon finalist Ons Jabeur said.

"It's a bit ironic. They don't show women's sport, they don't show women's tennis, and then they ask the question, yeah, but mostly they (viewers) watch men. Of course, they watch men more because you show men more. Everything goes together."

They want to try and avoid early morning finishes like the one that eventuated last year between Djokovic and Musetti, but surely there is a better approach, a better way to send a message to young girls that women's tennis is valued and deserves primetime viewing.

Alexander Zverev's first-round exit at Wimbledon this week spanned over two days on Centre Court because of the imposed curfew.

So, given that there is a possibility of some matches going the distance, why schedule the first match on Centre Court at 1:30pm instead of 11am like all of the other courts around the grounds?

We keep having these same discussions and debates every year, but nothing ever changes. There is no balance, and that's quite alarming.

From a product standpoint, can the ATP, WTA and the major tournaments be trusted to adjust and be open to tweaking?

With the calendar as congested as ever with the introduction of two-week ATP and WTA 1000 events, it's about time that players are shown some respect.

Check out the new EZONE 100 Tennis Racquet from Yonex for all players looking for electrifying blasts of power and ultimate comfort, engineered to playful perfection with a plush feel and an extra-large sweet spot. For more information, go to yonex.com/ezone