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By Reuters 
8h ago
PARIS – Having finished his quarterfinal match at 1:26 am local time in cold and windy conditions, Rafa Nadal questioned the decision of the French Open organizers to schedule no fewer than five matches on the same pitch during the day .
The 12-time Roland Garros champion was last scheduled on the main court and when his match started the temperature was 13 ° C with a cold wind sweeping the clay off the court, the roof of which was wide open.
“The weather … it’s too cold to play tennis. I know soccer players do it all the time, but they always move while we tennis players stop, go back, there is change,” Nadal told a conference press. after his 7-6 (4) 6-4 6-1 win against Italian teenager Jannik Sinner.
The match began at 11 a.m. South Africa time on Tuesday with a rescheduled women’s fourth-round match before a quarter-final between Nadia Pogoroska and Elina Svitolina, a men’s quarter-final between Diego Schwartzman and Dominic Thiem that lasted five hours and eight minutes and another Round of 16 match between Iga Swiatek and Martina Trevisan.
Nadal started his match at 10:36 pm local time. While these start times are not unusual for the US and Australian Open, those tournaments do take place during the summer.
This year’s French Open, however, was moved from its usual spot in the warmer months of May to June due to the Covid-19 crisis.
“I really don’t know why they put five games in the Chatrier today. That was a risk,” said the Spaniard.
“I saw immediately yesterday when they sent me the schedule because there is a possibility that there will be a couple of long games. That’s what happened. A bit of bad luck, of course.
“For me, I just tried to be patient, accept everything, and be in a positive way. That’s what I did.”
Reuters
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