Grigor Dimitrov took '17 naps' after being forced to wait hours for French Open match
Grigor Dimitrov was one of many players affected by lengthy rain delays at the French Open.
Grigor Dimitrov took drastic measures to deal with the huge delays to his third-round match at the French Open.
The world No. 10 started his contest with Zizou Bergs on Friday and finished it around 10pm local time on Saturday after being forced to wait around in the rain.
After taking “17 naps” to fill in the time, Dimitrov came through 6-3 7-6(4) 4-6 6-4 and he explained just how difficult it was to wait so long to compete.
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“Well, certainly it's not helping staying in the locker room for 15 hours, but I was happy to get out on the court,” the Bulgarian said. “I mean, even they put me I think in Jean Bouin or Annexe or anywhere, I would have been fine to play, to be honest.”
The weather has wreaked havoc on the schedule throughout the first week of the tournament, with players forced to wait around all day and potentially have their matches carried over by a day. And Dimitrov has been one of the players hit hard, having been scheduled away from the two covered courts.
He continued: “I played my first match on Sunday and my second match was on Thursday, and tomorrow is Sunday. I kind of lost track of time and place and everything like that. I just have to stay on it. That's just how it is.”
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And he had to go to extremes to keep himself ready to go at any moment when the rain stopped. “I think after, I don't know, 17 naps and the amount of rice I had and fruits and everything, it has truly been an experience for me after 15 years to experience something new, so I'm pretty happy about it,” he laughed.
Dimitrov and Bergs had already been made to wait by the time they took to Court 14 on Friday. But the heavens opened again and their match was suspended with the 33-year-old leading by a set and 2-1.
They were scheduled to return to Court 14 on Saturday, when less rain was forecast. But an unexpected downpour meant that organisers panicked and switched them to Court 7 after doubles matches were cancelled to make room to finish the singles.
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Before they could even take to the smaller stage, their match was moved again - this time to Court Philippe-Chatrier, resuming after Alexander Zverev survived a scare to defeat Tallon Griekspoor in five sets.
Novak Djokovic had been scheduled to face Lorenzo Musetti in the 8.15pm night match. But they were changed to a not before 8.30pm time, while Dimitrov and Bergs’ match was classified as the night session to allow those ticket holders in.
Instead, they played when defending champion Djokovic had been meant to start. And the world No. 1 took to the court two hours late once Dimitrov had finally booked his spot in the last 16.
