Andy Murray blasts ‘farcical’ 4am finish but Australian Open boss says ‘no need’ to alter scheduling
- Scot battles through five-set epic against Thanasi Kokkinakis which ends at 4.05am on Friday morning to reach the third round
- ‘If my child was a ball kid for a tournament, they’re coming home at 5am, as a parent, I’m snapping at that,’ Murray says
Australian Open chief Craig Tiley insisted on Friday there was “no need” to alter scheduling at the tournament despite stinging criticism after the second latest finish at a grand slam ever.
Veteran Andy Murray battled through a five-set epic against home hope Thanasi Kokkinakis which ended at 4.05am on Friday morning to reach the third round, calling the early hours conclusion “a bit of a farce”.
“I don’t know who it’s beneficial for. A match like that, we come here after the match, and that’s what the discussion is,” the 35-year-old Briton said after the five hours and 45 minutes spectacle, the longest of his career.
“Rather than it being, like, ‘epic Murray-Kokkinakis match’, it ends in a bit of a farce.”
The latest finish in the Open era was also at the Australian Open, in 2008 when Lleyton Hewitt outlasted Marcos Baghdatis in a third round clash that ended at 4.34am.
