French Open tournament director Amelie Mauresmo has revealed a big change to the schedule on men’s semi-final day this year. The second match of the day will now begin at 7pm local time, 90 minutes later than it started in 2024.

It’s a controversial decision, as Coco Gauff and Carlos Alcaraz were among several players who hit out at the late scheduling last year. The criticisms came after Novak Djokovic completed his third-round match against Lorenzo Musetti at 3.06am, breaking the record for the tournament’s latest finish.

However, Roland Garros organisers have decided to introduce a night session for the men’s semi-finals, which take place on the second Friday of the event. During a pre-tournament press conference on Thursday, Mauresmo confirmed plans to postpone one of the matches.

Traditionally, the first men’s semi-final has been played at 2.30pm local time, with the second contest not before 5.30pm. But the start times will now be 2.30pm and 7pm.

It’s a risky move – if the semi-final turns into a five-set marathon battle and lasts at least four hours, players could be on court until after 11pm.

By the time they complete post-match commitments, players could leave the site in the early hours of Saturday and would need to return for the championship match at 3pm on Sunday.

In the 2024 edition of the tournament, Alcaraz needed four hours and five minutes to beat Jannik Sinner in five sets to reach the final. The semi-final between Alexander Zverev and Casper Ruud was shorter, as Ruud struggled with food poisoning and lost 2-6 6-2 6-4 6-2.

Appetite for later matches doesn’t seem high among the players. Last year, Djokovic and Musetti took to the court at 10.30pm on the first Saturday for their third-round match, and walked off after 3am on Sunday.

The following day, eventual champion Alcaraz said: “I was watching Novak’s game. It started too late, I’m not gonna lie.”

World No. 4 Gauff pointed out that the players likely wouldn’t have left the grounds until 6am after cooling down and completing media.

“I definitely think it’s not healthy. It may be not fair for those who have to play late because it does ruin your schedule,” she added.

Four-time French Open champion Iga Swiatek agreed, saying: “It’s not easy to play and then it’s not like we’re going to fall asleep one hour after the match.

“Usually it takes us, like, four hours to even chill, and you need to do recovery, media. It’s not like the work ends when the match point.”

British doubles star Jamie Murray, who is the tournament director of the ATP 500 event at Queen’s, explained: “I understand that it’s difficult, but we shouldn’t be in a situation where guys are finishing at three o’clock as for then by the time he goes to bed it’s probably like six and then you’re totally goosed the next day and then the next day is a battle as well.”