“You don’t treat a player that way,” John McEnroe hits back at Roland Garros for playing Novak Djokovic in tough late-night conditions

John McEnroe believes that tennis is losing its image because of the late-night matches.


“You don’t treat a player that way,” John McEnroe hits back at Roland Garros for playing Novak Djokovic in tough late-night conditions

John McEnroe(L), Novak Djokovic(R) (Via Imago)

A lot of tennis tournament organizers are getting heavily bashed by players and fans for organizing late-night matches. The tournament particularly hosts late-night matches for the top players to attract as many viewers as possible. Recently, John McEnroe had a few words to share with Roland Garros after they played a couple of very late-night matches.

A few days ago, Novak Djokovic was forced to play a couple of late-night matches, where one even went past 3:00 in the morning. In the fourth round, he played Francisco Cerundolo in another late-night match and had a nasty fall leading to an injury. Turns out that the conditions of the court and the weather were too bad to play on.

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Tennis legend McEnroe also hit back at the tournament and even accused tennis of losing its image by playing matches till the next day morning.

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Putting Djokovic, 37, on the court at 10:30 pm, without knowing how long the match would last, was a huge mistake on the part of the organization. The weather was very bad, and they were in a difficult situation.
said John McEnroe via La Figaro
You don't treat a player, and even less the best in the world, that way. And finishing a match at 3 am gives tennis a bad image.
continued John McEnroe in his interview

Nonetheless, Djokovic has suffered a right meniscus injury in his right knee and will have to undergo surgery soon to get back in time for the Paris Olympics.

Novak Djokovic’s knee injury was a success as he prepares for a comeback

Novak Djokovic’s year just got worse from bad. After not having a great couple of quarters, he was just starting to find some form at the French Open. However, just as he made it to the quarter-finals, he suffered a knee injury and was forced to withdraw.

Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic (Via Imago)

Earlier today, he put a post on Instagram indicating that he had a successful surgery. With a group picture with his team, Djokovic delightfully said that the surgery was a success and would soon start his recovery. Nevertheless, the Roland Garros is in the semifinal stage and four players are yet to battle it for a place in the finals.

One exciting clash that can happen is between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. The whole tennis world awaits this matchup and even John McEnroe had a message about the rivalry.

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