World No.3 Rafael Nadal experienced little difficulty during his latest match at the French Open but he wasn’t entirely happy about the encounter.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion says he was baffled by the decision by organisers to turn the lights on inside the Philippe Chatrier Stadium, which he told the umpire was distracting. Nadal played his fourth round match against Jannik Sinner on Monday afternoon/early evening. At the time there was a clear sky with both players playing in temperatures of 25 degrees.
Organisers told the Spaniard that their decision to turn the lights on was related to TV broadcasters and their filming of the match. An explanation which drew more criticism from Nadal.
“I don’t know why they put the lights on that early. We have been playing without lights here in Roland Garros for forever,” said the 13-time champion.
“At 4:00 or 5:00 in the afternoon we have been playing tennis until 9:00 in the evening without lights.
“They say it’s because of TV. But my answer is we used to have TV before we had the lights on. I saw plenty of matches here, and from the TV the quality of the image was great without the lights.”
In recent months the premier court of the French Open has undergone a redevelopment with a roof and lighting being installed. This year is the first time Phillippe Chatrier has hosted evening sessions with each of those matches starting at 21:00 local time. Tournament director Guy Forget has recently told Tennis Majors that the timing of the night sessions could be brought forward in the future.
“I don’t know why we need to have the lights if the lights are bothering the good show (match) for the players. That’s all my concern,” Nadal argues.
Nadal is currently on course for a clash with Novak Djokovic in the semifinals later this week. Although first he has to take on Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman whom he leads 10-1 in their head-to-head. Meanwhile Djokovic’s quarter-final match will be against Italy’s Matteo Berrettini.
Both of those matches will take place on Wednesday.
