Iga Swiatek is calling for changes and earlier starts after Novak Djokovic late-night finish at the French Open as the Polish world No. 1 suggests that matches starting and finishing late doesn’t benefit anyone, from players, on-site workers to viewers and fans.

After starting his French Open third-round match on Saturday night, Djokovic spent on the court four hours and 29 minutes before sealing a 7-5 6-7 (6) 2-6 6-3 6-0 win. By the time the last ball was played, the clock was at 03:08 local time.

While Djokovic didn’t want to bash the French Open organizers afterward, he did acknowledge that recovering would be tough. And many among Djokovic’s fans but also the general argued that finishing late can put a player in a disadvantageous position – in this case, it is the Serb.

Addressing the Djokovic case, Swiatek agrees finishing this late can only create problems for the record 24-time Grand Slam champion.

Swiatek on Djokovic’s late finish: It’s not easy…

“Well, that’s true. Obviously, everybody kind of thinks about themselves, and that’s why I was always looking from the player’s perspective,” Swiatek said.

“It’s not easy to play and then it’s not like we’re going to fall asleep one hour after the match. Usually it takes us, like, four hours to even chill, and you need to do recovery, media. It’s not like the work ends when the match point.

“Yeah, I was always one of the players that said that we should start a little bit earlier. Also, I don’t know if the fans are watching these matches if they have to go to work next day or something when the matches are finishing at 2 AM or 3 AM.

“It’s not up to us. We need to accept anything that is going to come to us.”

Iga Swiatek was asked about late night finishes after Djokovic & Musetti finished at 3 in the morning, ‘It’s not like we fall asleep 1 hour after the match… it’s not like the work ends after match point’

“This morning we are watching Novak Djokovic play until 3 o’clock in the… pic.twitter.com/kVCNPo7AuT

— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) June 2, 2024

Djokovic, who finished his match against Musetti in the early hours of Sunday, will be back in action on Monday when he meets Francisco Cerundolo in the round-of-16 at Roland Garros.

Meanwhile, Swiatek destroyed Anastasia Potapova 6-0 6-0 to set up a French Open quarterfinal versus Marketa Vondrousova.