“I’ll go get some breakfast now,” quipped Garbine Muguruza after she’d won her Australian Open encounter against Johanna Konta – at the ungodly hour of 3:12 a.m.
“I seriously can’t believe people are still watching,” added the smiling Muguruza, as she was interviewed on court after her 6-4 6-7 (3-7), 7-5 victory over the Briton in Melbourne in the early hours of Friday morning.
“It was very tough. Johanna was playing good, serving incredible, big shots. I just tried to fight and hang in. We play for you guys, otherwise why would be here,” continued the Spaniard, referring to those few hardy fans still inside the Margaret Court Arena at the match’s conclusion.
Muguruza and Konta didn’t start playing until 12:30 a.m – the latest start for a women’s match at the Australian Open – and their second-round tussle then lasted for two hours and 42 minutes.
They went on court so late because both Kei Nishikori’s victory over Ivo Karlovic and Alexander Zverev’s win against Jeremy Chardy took nearly four hours to conclude.
“A mooted move to Court 3 at 11.55 p.m. was canceled after it was discovered that seagulls had rendered the court unusable,” said the WTA website.
Two-time grand slam winner Muguruza will now play Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland in the third round.
“I don’t agree with athletes having to physically exert themselves in the early hours,” Konta told BBC Sport.
“I don’t think it is healthy – in fact I think it is quite dangerous. In the circumstances I thought we put on a great match and it’s a shame more people couldn’t see it.”
Last year a second-round match between Daria Gavrilova and Elise Mertens began at 11:59 p.m., while the latest conclusion to a grand slam contest was in 2008 when Lleyton Hewitt and Marcos Baghdatis finished at 4:34 am.
