Novak Djokovic called for a change in match schedules as Jakub Mensik slammed the organisers, saying it was “insane” to play a marathon match at the French Open in temperatures above 30C on Wednesday.
The rising Czech star collapsed with cramp on court immediately after securing victory over Mariano Navone.
The 20-year-old needed eight match points to win 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (13/11) after four hours and 41 minutes on court 6, completely exposed to the sun.
“It’s insane to play in this weather, especially in front of the sun, to be there for more than four and a half hours, it’s just insane,” Mensik told reporters.
“Even with the breaks, you don’t have that much time, the ball boy can’t bring you a towel.
“During the changeover you have just one minute, which obviously by when you sit, it’s already just 30 seconds, so there’s not much time to cool yourself down.”
Mensik collapsed onto the clay straight after hitting the winning forehand.
When his opponent came to greet him, he tried to get up but remained stuck on his back. The umpire waited several seconds before coming to his aid and eventually medical staff arrived to help him.
“The referee today, what happened after the match, I will keep to myself, but the behaviour of that… I don’t respect that,” he added without elaborating further.
Mensik accepted that “rules are rules” but compared the strict regulations forcing players to play quickly compared to the speed with which umpires will halt play when a spectator is taken ill.
“I was really struggling on the last point,” he said.
“When I hit the last point, the last winner, the emotions went out and of course my body just turned off, so at the time, I wasn’t able to do anything.”
Mensik will be back on court on Friday to face eighth seed Alex de Minaur, who has not played since Monday after receiving a second-round walkover when opponent Alexander Blockx pulled out with injury.
“Even if it looks horrible at the end, after 30 minutes in the locker room when I was out of the sun, I started to feel much better,” said the 26th seed.
“I’m here, feeling pretty well. So, of course, I’ll use the recovery day as well as I can. The conditions aren’t going to be as crazy as today.”
Djokovic, who continued his latest tilt at a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam title with a four-set victory on Wednesday to reach the third round of the French Open, suggested matches should be pushed back later in the day to combat the heatwave broiling at Roland Garros.
Just like in his opening match, the 39-year-old saw off a home player, this time moving past world number 74 Valentin Royer 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (7/9), 6-3 under a blazing sun on Court Philippe Chatrier. “Obviously the feelings on the court are different when you win,” Djokovic said. “It was a match in very difficult (weather) conditions.” Speaking to reporters later, Djokovic suggested matches be put back to avoid playing during the hottest part of the day as temperatures in the French capital continue to go into the mid-30s Celsius.
“Honestly, with Grand Slams it shouldn’t be an issue, generally, because we have so many courts. We have lights. You know, there’s no issue. You have big courts. You can play the matches. You can reschedule them some other courts and have still the crowd in the stadium and everything,” he said. “For example, Umag in Croatia where matches are starting later in the afternoon, you know, 5:00 p.m. or something, and they play until deep at night.
“Yeah, is that ideal to go over midnight? Yeah, it’s not. But if you have, you know, certain days that you have extreme heat and conditions, then maybe that’s something to consider.”
Source: Khaleej Times