"Novak Djokovic, I'm sure went to sleep at 6:00 am" - Carlos Alcaraz on 'difficult' recovery from French Open night sessions after Serb's late finish

Carlos Alcaraz opened up about the challenges of recovering from a late-night session following Novak Djokovic's recent late finish at the French Open. The Serb's third-round match at Roland Garros had concluded after 3:00 a.m.

Seeded third, Alcaraz secured his spot in the quarterfinals at the clay court Major by defeating 21st seed Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 in a two-hour and twenty-minute match in the fourth round. This win marked the Spaniard's eighth Grand Slam quarter-final appearance and improved his record to 15 wins and three losses at Roland Garros.

During the post-match press conference, Carlos Alcaraz was asked about the challenges players face when competing in night sessions. The inquiry arose following Novak Djokovic's third-round match at the French Open against Lorenzo Musetti, which concluded after 3:00 a.m., breaking the tournament's previous record for the latest finish at 1:25 a.m.

Alcaraz expressed his dislike for night session matches, citing the negative impact it has on recovery time. He explained that players need to attend press conferences, undergo physiotherapy, take ice baths, and do much more after a match concludes. If a match ends late at night, all these post-match activities are delayed, affecting their recovery.

"Well for me I don't like night sessions, but it is not because of the crowd. I think the crowd in the night session is special. But we, so late, have to do press conferences, physio and ice bath. We have to do a lot of things that are really important for the recovery for the next matches. Not only the last ball, we have a lot of important things to do," Alcaraz said [at 5:15].

Regarding Djokovic's late-night finish, Carlos Alcaraz stated that the World No.1 likely went to sleep around 6:00 a.m., which must have made his recovery extremely challenging.

"Novak [Djokovic], I'm sure he went to go to sleep at 6:00a.m. after the last one finished at three, something like that. Three hours between the last point until he went to go to sleep. So it's really difficult to recover when you are going to go to sleep so so late," he added [at 5:53].

The World No.3 also mentioned that he prefers for matches to end by 6:00 p.m. so that he has ample time to unwind. However, he acknowledged that night session matches cannot be altered, so he and other players must adapt as best they can.

"I mean for me it's much better to finish at six, having dinner in a really good restaurant, good food. Everything is better if you finish early. But the night session, it's a real thing. We can't change it but we have to adapt ourselves as much as or as better as we can to those matches," Carlos Alcaraz said [at 6:19].

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Carlos Alcaraz will face Stefanos Tsitsipas in French Open 2024 QF

Carlos Alcaraz at the 2024 French Open

Carlos Alcaraz will go up against ninth seed, Stefanos Tsitsipas, in the quarterfinals of the 2024 French Open.

Alcaraz kicked off his campaign at Roland Garros by defeating lucky loser J.J. Wolf with a score of 6-1, 6-2, 6-1, and then defeating qualifier Jesper de Jong 6-3, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 in the first and second rounds, respectively. He then overcame 27th seed Sebastian Korda 6-4, 7-6(5), 6-3 in the third round and Felix Auger-Aliassime in the fourth round to secure his spot in the last eight.

Meanwhile, Stefanos Tsitsipas began his French Open campaign by defeating Marton Fucsovics 7-6(7), 6-4, 6-1 in the first round. He then went on to defeat Daniel Altmaier 6-3, 6-2, 6-7(2), 6-4 in the second round and Zhang Zhizhen 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 in the third round.

The Greek then faced Matteo Arnalidi in the fourth round and emerged victorious with a score of 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-2, 6-2 to move to the quarterfinals where he will face Alcaraz.

Carlos Alcaraz and Stefanos Tsitsipas have met five times on the ATP Tour, with Alcaraz emerging victorious in all five match-ups. Their most recent encounter was in the quarterfinals of the 2023 French Open, which the Spaniard won 6-2, 6-1, 7-6(5).