CNN —The Australian Open will add an extra day to its schedule next year in a bid to reduce pressure on players and fans following a series of punishing matches in recent years that ended well into the early hours.
The Australian Open has a demanding schedule in the early rounds of the tournament; five matches are regularly played each day on the show courts – three during the day session and two at night.
But organizers did not mention whether there would be a cutoff time for night matches.
The lack of a time cap in tennis means matches last as long as it takes players to win.
Three out of the four grand slams – the Australian Open, the French Open and the US Open – currently schedule night sessions, while Wimbledon ends evening sessions at 11 p.m. with unfinished matches resuming the following day.
Persons:
Andy Murray, Thanasi Kokkinakis, Murray, fuming, “ We’ve, Craig Tiley, Kokkinakis, William West, Lleyton Hewitt, Marcos Baghdatis, Roger Federer, Janko Tipsarevic, John Isner, Nicolas Mahut
Organizations:
CNN, Getty, Wimbledon
Locations:
Melbourne, AFP, Europe, North America, French