KEY RESULTS: ROUND 3

going into Saturday in Melbourne, Zhu Lin defeated Maria Sakkari at close to 2 am. By the time Marketa Vondrousova beat second seed Ons Jabeur way past 1 am, all she needed was “some sleep”.

Murray still had time for some humour after the clock on his match stopped at 4.05 am—it was the second latest Slam finish after Lleyton Hewitt and Marcos Baghdatis at the 2008 Australian Open (4.34 am)—but he too called it “a bit of a farce”. The great Martina Navratilova had also tweeted on the “crazy”, adding “no other sport does this”.

Men: (USA x29) bt Daniil Medvedev (RUS x7) 7-6(7), 6-3, 7-6(0), (GRE x3) bt Tallon Griekspoor (NED) 6-2, 7-6(5), 6-3, Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN x6) bt Francisco Cerundolo (ARG x28) 6-1, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, Karen Khachanov (RUS x18) bt Frances Tiafoe (USA x16) 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 76(9),

(POL x10) bt Denis Shapovalov (CAN x20) 7-6(3), 6-4, 1-6,

4-6, 6-3

Women: (POL x1) bt Cristina Bucsa (ESP) 6-0, 6-1,

(USA x3) bt Marta Kostyuk (UKR) 6-0, 6-2,

(KAZ x22) bt Danielle Collins (USA x13) 6-2, 5-7, 6-2,

(USA x7) bt Bernarda Pera (USA) 6-3, 6-2, (CHN) bt Maria Sakkari (GRE x6) 7-6(3), 1-6, 6-4

What’s also crazy is tennis pros dragging their body back on court for a match merely hours after. After his 4am shift, Murray returned for some hitting at around 1pm on Friday to prepare for his third-round match scheduled on Saturday at 7pm. Not so much prepare, but recover.

“It is phenomenally demanding, physically and mentally,” Ramji Srinivasan, the former strength and conditioning coach of the Indian cricket team, said of the challenges for tennis players dealing with these late-night finishes. “In terms of strength and conditioning, you can’t do

much here. Recovery becomes the most integral part of it. And you have to adjust your body rhythm accordingly. It’s a huge ask for any athlete.”

More than the athlete himself, the role of Murray’s support staff gains significance in the immediate aftermath. Which would include, Ramji said, a good massage, contrast bath, warm-down drills to calm the adrenalin and simultaneous post-match meal. “Meal pattern also changes (due to the 4 am finish). That is your fuel, and if you don’t have enough fuel, you won’t be able to sleep properly. And good sleep is

Maria Sakkari’s match ended well past midnight