TENNIS- The tour of Europe continues- next stop- Paris, as we head for the Finals in Turin

[Raahh]

Just noticed thread was running out. So - thought I might be organised for once.

And well done to Joe Salisbury And Rajeev Ram (who have had a rubbish year)but have just won in Vienna.

It's typical that really the only straightforward matches today have been Djok's, and Casper's loss!

It's tie-break not breaker!!

There are2 matches scheduled after this- no idea when Sinner will actually get to play. That's ridiculous.

I don't understand their schedule at all! I probably won't see Holger because football is on

I've realised that play on the other courts stops in the evening Jane. At leat i think so- (and it's indoors, so why?) Now, the anwer is probably because money/ticket sales- but surely it would be better to put more matches on more courts. Earlier.

Than risk having Sinner start near midnight- when he will probably have to play tomorrow as well.

Well done Sascha- massive effort from Ugo, really good match again.

poor Ugo

I think ok if you're Parisian but I'm sure anyone with tickets from out of town wouldn't be very happy travelling at that time of night.

Well done Sascha. Any piano bingo for Ugo?

Mustn't have a curfew.

Though since it's underground, they probably don't need one.

Sad for Ugo. I feel like he was put off by the crowd shouting on that penultimate point.

Ice I agree- sometimes the crowds don't really do the players any favours, epecially at the crucial points and he had done so well to keep it close up to then.

Lucky for Jannik that Holger's match seemed straightforward, (shame for Domi though) because Sinner's went to 3 sets -(2 close sets, and McDonald faded in the 3rd)No idea what time it ended - and he is playing in the afternoon today. The scheduling really is ridiculous - and about the only one of Greg Rusedski's many rants I agree with .

I appreciate that the other courts (seating areas) are smaller- but really, it has to be better to use them in the evening than have matches go on so late, even if they don't get the crowds. Put a big telly up in the entrance .

I agree Raahh the scheduling is ridiculous, seems to assume all matches are over in the minimum time. They needed to move Sinner’s match to another court, especially when he’s playing again today.

Ice All week, the commentators have been saying how matches have been getting longer- despite the courts being quite quick. Only a handful haven't gone the distance, and very few have been less than two hours- many have pushed 3 plus. This i becoming the norm- even at challenger level.

There were complaints last year, about the late finishes- but it seems it has made no difference.

I do wonder if they will end up extending this tournament at some point, the way other masters have been increased. Although, the end of the year is pretty packed as it it is, so it would be hard to fit in.

What I don't want, is them changing the format - to make the matches shorter. (though so many of the commentators seem to like that option) I'd rather they just used the facilities available! There have been some great long matches this week. (not so much for the losers, obviously!).

Well done Grigor. I had it on in the background but wasn't paying attention. My head is fried today.

Petch better hope he's not being translated to French

The scheduling today is just as silly, 2 matches on Court 1 and 6 on Centre? All they need to do is move one more match onto Court 1 and chances of finishing at a civilised hour increase massively. Don’t think they should prioritise revenue over player welfare.

Smooching to Cream by Prince ooh la la!

I've managed to miss everything so far today. Another good win for Grigor .
Nice to see Andrey progressing too.

This Roman/Karen match though, could be a longer match. I can't see it being over in 2 sets.

I thought they could only get the physio at change of ends?

I've just turned on- wasn't there an incident somewhere (can't remember where or who now) where a player defaulted on a game because they got a trainer out in a game when it technically wasn't allowed?

The scheduling is ridiculous! So what if someone plays on a smaller court at a reasonable time, rather than having to play on Centre Court in the early hours of the morning, with just the cleaners watching!
It's no good for anyone's body clock, spectators, officials, ball kids and certainly not the players, especially when they're due back on court later that day. It's bloody common sense but money talks.

In other news, Koolhof has kicked Skupsi into touch to go back to Mektic, his former partner, who split from Pavic in the summer. Really odd, considering they won Wimbledon and are the No2 ranked team! They're due to play Khachanov and Rublev this afternoon. Think I'll watch to see the body language, although should be a good match anyway. Hope Neal finds a good partner in the off season.

Apparently Sinner has now pulled out of the tournament citing fatigue. Apparently he finished his match last night at 2:30am.

Yes, seen his statement. Casper has had a (very unlike Casper) rant about it aswell!

Well done Stef. Hope the knee is ok.