Novak Djokovic gets advantage over Rafael Nadal as French Open schedule confirmed

Novak Djokovic has had his wish granted ahead of his quarter-final clash with Rafael Nadal as the pair’s 59th meeting has been scheduled for the night session at the French Open on Tuesday. The Spaniard prefers the warm, day-time conditions while the top seed had requested the new night session on Court Philippe-Chatrier. It means Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev will play their quarter-final in the day session.

Djokovic has received an advantage over Nadal for their quarter-final clash as their match has been scheduled for the night session at 8.45pm local time (7.45pm UK) – the world No 1’s preference for the clash. It will be just a second outing in the brand new night sessions for the Spaniard who admitted he didn’t like the new addition to the schedule after facing Corentin Moutet on Wednesday night.

“I don’t like night sessions on clay. I say the other day. I am very clear with that,” the 13-time French Open champion previously admitted. “I don’t like to play on clay during the night, because humidity is higher, the ball is slower, and can be very heavy conditions especially when it’s cold. I think that makes a big difference on the way who played tennis on clay during the night and during the day.”

Nadal had already struggled in his fourth-round win over Felix Auger-Aliassime, needing five sets to outlast the 21-year-old, and will now be facing a fresh Djokovic who completed his own round-of-16 match in straight sets in more favourable conditions for the top seed.

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The schedule debate started after Nadal and Djokovic won their third-round matches, putting them both within one victory of a rematch of last year’s semi-final. Djokovic admitted they would definitely be making different requests but after beating Diego Schwartzman accepted that the ultimate decision was down to the tournament director and TV rights holders.

In France, Amazon Prime Video have exclusive rights to the new night session matches as part of a £12.8 million (€15 million) deal, giving them more bargaining power over free-to-air French TV, which has a £8.5 million (€10 million) dead to broadcast the day session matches, though they draw a bigger viewership. However, Roland Garros has announced that episode 59 of the Djokovic and Nadal rivalry will be made free to watch on Amazon Prime in France, without registration required. For UK viewers, the match will be broadcast on Eurosport.

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As a knock-on effect of the scheduling decision, Alcaraz and Zverev will be playing their quarter-final in the day. It comes after the 19-year-old complained that it would be “unfair” for him to play a third night session match and endure another late finish. “Even if you finish at midnight, you have to look at everything that comes after that: dinner, physio. You don’t rest the same because of the adrenaline of the match. If I play a third time at night it wouldn’t seem fair to me,” he claimed.

But his opponent Zverev had admitted he was preparing for a night session after claiming the tournament was building the schedule around the sixth seed, who had been their top choice for the prime-time Chatrier night session matches. It’s obvious in which direction things are going and who the tournament wants to see go through,” he said after beating Bernabe Zapata Miralles on Sunday. “I’m pretty sure I’m going to play at night against Alcaraz, because that’s just how it’s gonna be. I’m getting ready for that.”

source: express.co.uk