The French Open allowed fans to defy the COVID-19 related curfew in Paris on Friday night to continue watching the epic Rafael Nadal-Novak Djokovic match.
Djokovic started the match down 5-0 and lost the first set. He rallied to win the next three sets in a four-set victory over Nadal in the semifinals. This marked just the third time ever that Nadal lost in the French Open, which is maddening. Amazingly, Djokovic has handed Nadal two of the three losses (Robin Soderling was responsible for the other).
The match began at 7:10 p.m. in Paris. The curfew in the city is at 11 p.m., but the match took four hours and 11 minutes to complete, finishing at 11:21 p.m. local time.
At around 10:40 p.m. in Paris, following an intense tiebreaker to end the third set, a French Open official made the curfew announcement.
“In an agreement with public authorities, the match will be allowed to conclude with spectators,” the official said. “It is an exception granted given the completely exceptional nature of the circumstances.”
The fans went nuts over the announcement:
Djokovic went on to win the final set more easily at 6-2.
The French Open began the tournament with a restriction of 1,000 fans attending matches at Court Philippe-Chatrier. They increased that to 5,000 fans. And they even adjusted on the fly Friday due to the special circumstances. It was well worth it.
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