On the first day of the Australian Open, defending women’s champion Aryna Sabalenka walked out onto Rod Laver Arena at 11:33pm (AEDT) to an almost empty stadium.
The Belarusian tennis player’s match against 18-year-old German Ella Seidel officially got underway at 11:41pm.
The late night start has raised serious questions over the tournament’s scheduling of women’s matches, as organisers had added an extra day of matches for the first time in history.
The changes included cutting down the number of day matches on Rod Laver Arena to two instead of three, to avoid the exact situation that played out.
Sabalenka and Seidel’s match didn’t finish until after 12:30am. The cause was a lengthy four-hour match between Men’s World No. 1 Novak Djokovic and 18-year-old Croatian qualifier Dino Prizmic right before the women’s game.
Sportswriter Ben Rothenberg wrote that he was “sparing a thought” for Aryna Sabalenka as she walked out to “an almost empty” arena around midnight, pointing out that “the best-of-three match should always go first in a night session”.
Before the 2024 Australian Open began, tournament director Craig Tiley had said the new schedule was a solution that would minimise games dragging into all hours of the night.
For the first time, the tournament began on a Sunday instead of a Monday and will last for 15 days as part of this new schedule.
“We’ve listened to feedback from the players and fans and are excited to deliver a solution to minimise late finishes while continuing to provide a fair and equitable schedule on the stadium courts,” said Tiley.
“The additional day will achieve this, benefiting scheduling for fans and players alike. The first round will now be played over three days instead of two, also giving fans an extra day of unbelievable tennis, entertainment, food and family fun.”
Despite the late night match and scattering of devoted attendees, Sabalenka claimed the 6-0,6-1 victory over Seidel in only 53 minutes, defending her title once again. Sabalenka struck six aces and won 80 per cent of her first-serve points against world No. 173 Seidel.
“It’s really amazing that I was able to achieve so many goals in tennis and there are many more to come,” she said. “I’m working really hard to achieve all my goals.
“I’m just very grateful for everything I have in life and for every opportunity I have playing on this incredible court. I really missed you so much. Hopefully I can stay here until the very, very, very last day.”