Why do they schedule players so late, when other tournaments do not? Live TV elsewhere?
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The website "The Ringer" had an extensive article the other day about the grueling nature of the professional tennis tour, the horrific wear and tear on the body and the true lack of an "off season". In recent years stellar male players such as Federer, Djokovic, Murray, Wawrinka, Nishikori and Del Potro have missed extensive periods of time due to injury. And players such as Nadal who play so hard and stress their bodies will undoubtedly have shortened careers ala Murray who has tentatively announced his retirement at age 31. The fact that the majors still require men to play 3 of 5 and the greed involved (see, Open U.S.) in having a night session only contributes to the stress upon players who have to play to 2 a.m., let alone the paying public which endures these ridiculous times. It is greed, pure and simple.
The advantage of a night match is the cooler temperature. Not sure how hot it is in Australia right now, but people in the daytime matches (which seem to be very early) are sweating up a storm. As a tennis player, too early and too late are less than optimum. Personally, the 11am-2pm window is the perfect window for tennis since I live on the cool (temperature) coast!
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