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Andy Murray tags Australian Open schedule a ‘FARCA’ after his sensational five-set turnaround against Thanasi Kokkinakis ended at 4am local time
Andy Murray secured one of his most extraordinary victories after playing until half the night and later calling the Australian Open schedule “a sham.”
The 35-year-old Scotsman returned heroically to beat Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis 4-6 6-7 7-6 6-3 7-5 at 4:05am after five hours and 45 minutes to reach the third round.
He then questioned the wisdom of a show that is always in danger of stretching into the early hours of the morning.
Andy Murray criticized the Australian Open organizers, describing the late schedule as a “sham”.
“I don’t know who it’s beneficial for,” Murray said. “We come here after the game and that’s the discussion, instead of it being like the epic Murray-Kokkinakis game. It ends in some kind of farce.
“Amazingly, people stayed until the end, and I really appreciate that they did that and created an atmosphere for us at the end.
‘ Some people obviously need to work the next day and everything. If my son was a ball boy in a tournament and got home at five in the morning, as a parent, I would criticize him.
‘It’s not beneficial for them. It is not beneficial for the referees, the officials. I don’t think it’s surprising to the fans. It is not good for the players.
The 35-year-old heroically came back from two sets down to beat Thanasi Kokkinakis on Thursday.
“We talk about it all the time, and it has been talked about for years. But when you start late night games and have conditions like that, these things are going to happen.”
Murray also pointed to the low night temperatures as another reason why the match went on so late. Many players have been unhappy with the slow ball speed this year.
“That’s what’s going to happen when you play in cold conditions at that time of day and with balls like that.” You are going to get long points in long rallies. I actually felt better on the court physically today than I did the other day, which is a good thing, but finishing at four o’clock isn’t ideal.
‘When we started tonight, at the beginning of the game, I felt that there was no pressure on the ball, almost flat. Thanasi also complained quite a bit during the match. So it’s hard to pick winners.’
The Scotsman’s second round match ended at 4:05 am local time after more than five hours of play.
Murray had also complained to referee Eva Asderaki Moore about not being able to take a third toilet break as only two are allowed.
“I understand, obviously, the tour rules with bathroom breaks and bathroom breaks and obviously I’ve been very vocal about it. But it’s three in the morning and I’ve been drinking all day. I need to go to the bathroom and it’s frustrating at the time.
“You don’t want people taking advantage of the rules, but when you have players on the court at three or four in the morning, sometimes there needs to be a little bit of leeway.”
‘Obviously the match had a lot of ups and downs. There was frustration and there was tension, there was excitement. Obviously it’s amazing to win the game, but I also want to go to bed now. It’s great, but I want to sleep.