"You want to kill drama in tennis" - Fans slam journalist for blaming best-of-five format amid Novak Djokovic's late finish controversy at French Open

Tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg recently came under criticism from fans after attributing Novak Djokovic's late finish at the 2024 French Open to the best-of-five format that is followed at Grand Slams. The Serb's third-round match at Roland Garros had finished well after 3:00 a.m.

Top seed Djokovic defeated Lorenzo Musetti 7-5, 6-7(6), 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 in four hours and 29 minutes to move into the fourth round of the claycourt Major. This marked his 369th Grand Slam match win and equaled Roger Federer's record for the most wins at Grand Slam tournaments

The match concluded at 3:08 a.m., breaking the tournament's previous record for the latest finish at 1:25 a.m. This kind of match scheduling was criticized by many.

Tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg was among those who criticized the late-night finish but attributed it to the best-of-five format followed by Grand Slam tournaments.

"Any conversation about late finishes at Grand Slams being problematic that does not foreground the best-of-five format as a central, obvious cause is deeply unserious ✨ ," Rothenberg posted on X.

Tennis fans did not agree with Rothenberg's deduction and took to social media to express their disagreement and share their perspectives.

One fan stated that the journalist wants to "kill the drama" in tennis. They expressed that removing the fourth round would have diminished the excitement and drama in Djokovic's match.

"You want to kill drama in tennis. Without the fourth set, yesterday's match is just great. Now it's legendary. And it adds on the résumé of one of the GOATs. Which I'm not a fan of to begin with. It's just how it is." a fan posted.

"I don't think tennis fans want men to play best of three. Look at Djokovic incredible comeback yesterday wouldn't be possible if best of three format," a fan posted.

Another fan pointed out that late finishes are often due to weather conditions and poor scheduling, rather than the tournament format.

"And you are deeply unserious for wanting to abolish the best format in tennis. These late finishes happen due to delays because of rain and bad schedulng. A match starting at 11 is not the norm," a fan wrote.

"Should have left this one in your drafts," a fan wrote.

"Getting rid of best of 5 would be the worst decision tennis could ever make," a fan posted.

Several fans stated that reducing the Grand Slams to a three-set format would diminish the significance that set them apart from the Masters 1000 tournaments.

"So what would set Grand Slams apart from every other tournament then? We already have 2 week masters which drag like death, drop 2 sets from GS & they just become regular masters tournaments with a few extra entries. 5 sets is the footprint, it shouldn't be removed," a fan wrote.

Some fans opposed the idea of eliminating the best-of-five format, arguing that it is an integral part of the Grand Slam tournaments' unique appeal.

"Anyone who doesn’t like best of 5 isnt a real tennis fan. There is a reason these tournaments are worth 2000 points. The issue isn’t the Bo5- it’s the scheduling and inability to move players to different courts and be adaptive when things like weather create issues," a fan posted.

Novak Djokovic on the playing conditions late at night: "Muggy, so heavy conditions, very cold, the balls were not going anywhere"

Novak Djokovic

Following his win over Lorenzo Musetti in the third round of the 2024 French Open, Novak Djokovic criticized the match scheduling, saying that it was inhumane to play so late at night.

"I mean, yeah. When you’re playing a 20+ rally at 2am… Who plays at 2am? You play a few matches in your life at this time," Novak Djokovic said at the post-match press conference.

The World No.1 stated that the playing conditions late at night were "muggy," "heavy" and "very cold" which made playing the ball extremely hard. He added that due to the challenging circumstances he had to push himself to the limit to secure the win.

"It was so muggy and so heavy conditions, very cold, the balls were not going anywhere. You weren’t getting too many free points off the serve, so you had to work every single point of the night tonight, and that’s why I really physically pushed myself to the limit tonight," he stated.

Novak Djokovic will next face 23rd seed Francisco Cerúndolo in the fourth round of the 2024 French Open.