PARIS (AP) - The French Open isn't the only thing that attracts the attention of tennis players in Europe: the Champions League final will determine the best football club on the continent, and one of the two teams involved on Saturday night is Paris Saint-Germain, whose stadium is a few blocks of Roland-Garros.
Novak Djokovic competes with PSG to the man from Inter Milan, Italy, who hopes to be able to watch on TV to watch the major clash to take place in Munich, Germany. Djokovic therefore made the person responsible for scheduling the program at the Clay-Racing Grand Slam Championship know this preference, and he won three championships, which is a common practice, especially among the elites of the sport.
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They often ask for arrangements at specific times. Or avoid a certain period of time.
"If I don't attend (in) the night, I'll definitely watch it. Yes, that'll be great." "FYI, Roland-Garros schedule."
Prompt, prompt. Aside from his guilty plea, there was no attention: When Saturday's game order was released on Friday, the third round of the 24-time champion Djokovic against Philippe was held at 8:15 pm local time, 45 minutes from local time, 24-time champion Djokovic started at Inter Milan vs. PSG under the lights of Court Philippe-Chatrier.
The others who begged for the competition at that time got their wish. Although one person was Arthur Fils, the No. 14-seed Frenchman grew up near Paris and was a big fan of PSG due to a back injury during an afternoon game against No. 17 Andrey Rublev.
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"We have a lot of players' requirements every day," said Amélie Mauresmo, the game director. "There are no fixed rules. We try to accommodate everyone as much as possible. This includes requirements from players, broadcasters and audiences. … It's a real puzzle and I won't lie."
Coco Gauff said she doesn't often ask for a certain time period, but when she does, it's usually related to singles and doubles games on the same day (the American won the French Open tag team championship last year but didn't play doubles this time).
The 2023 U.S. Open champion, currently ranked second in singles, has noticed that events tend to listen to elite players more than others.
"If you rank higher, they will definitely hear more," Goff said. "To be honest, I think that's right. I think if you're doing well on tour and winning so many games, you should have more priorities in this regard."
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Apart from the best and best things, it is not always successful in such things.
Madison Keys, who was in the 2017 U.S. Open and won the Australian Open in January, knew the feeling of being ignored.
"Sometimes requests (in) they write it down and say, 'OK,'" but then do nothing.
"I really think it's just what the tournament wants, what the TV wants, what that kind of thing," she added. "Sometimes you get what you ask for. And other times, you're the exact opposite."
Just ask Djokovic.
“I have to accept whatever they arrange,” he said earlier this season. “I think I have won… the right to (communicate) with the game management, depending on the opponent, I can express what I want here, depending on the given day.”
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Associated Press writer Tom Nouvian contributed to the report.
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Howard Fendrich has been an Associated Press tennis writer since 2002. Find his story here: More AP Tennis: