Magical, but too short nights

Like so many, he too let the magic of the tennis quarter-finals between Raphael Nadal and Novak Djokovic deprive him of his usual sleep rhythm beyond the witching hour.

First our eyes were big, then they were small. Almost only slits and just a splash of cold water helped a little to get a clear view in the morning. At least somewhat. Because we had another long night behind us. Novak Djokovic played against Raphael Nadal in the quarterfinals of the French Open. It was well after midnight when the two opponents of the “giant duel” were able to pack up their rackets. If you will, the match took place over two days. Office sleep has never been more important than now.

Memories came back about a short night in Kinshasa, formerly Zaire. Now it is the Democratic Republic of Congo, a former colony of Belgium. It was October 30, 1974, 04.30:05.30 a.m. local time. So it was XNUMX:XNUMX a.m. in Europe. The best time for deep sleep. But back then we even set our alarms so that we wouldn't miss a minute of what was probably the biggest boxing match ever. Muhammad Ali fought against George Foreman. Of course, you had to be there and everything was still new. There were only two television programs. Interviews or moderations beforehand, which often cause unnecessary lengths, were also not common. In the eighth round, Ali, an outsider at the time, knocked out Foreman, who was seven years younger. There was never a rematch. The two even became friends.

Muhammad Ali (l.) and George Foreman (r.) at the most legendary boxing match of all time, 1974 in Kinshasa. © APA/afp / -

Whether there will ever be a similar development between Nadal and Djokovic is still up in the air, especially since both are still active. They showed in Paris that they are also night hunters.

“Night session” is what the organizers call it. And even if the players follow the program, they are by no means enthusiastic about these approaches to the game so late in the day. They even rail against it, but their influence is limited and their objections are not even heard. They have to work because the many television stations need games in front of many fans who have time after the working day for the heroes of the red ashes. That brings ratings. Without consideration for athletes and fans It is an additional burden for the athletes for many reasons. The entire, usual rhythm of a tennis day changes dramatically. The preparation drags on endlessly. But the all-important follow-up also suffers. At 2.00 a.m., after the mandatory press conference, Nadal no longer does any gymnastic exercises in order to at least somewhat relax his muscles from the stress of the game. An ice bath would still be a relatively simple solution to this problem. Whoever likes it...

We, the viewers and fans, initially see this in a relaxed manner. But if I'm being completely honest, the regular late sporting events do bother me. The European Cup games in football, for example, always start at around 21 p.m. So the end is not possible before 23 p.m. with a half-time break and all the fuss that still flashes across the screen afterwards. Normally by this time I'm well into my dream world, because the next day the rooster screams relentlessly at six in the morning. And anyone who says that they immediately fall asleep after a football match is simply not telling the truth. That is also the problem of the protagonists of the night. The game continues in the head, even if it is already lying on the soft pillow in the bed. Night shifts in many sports The games were scheduled to start two hours earlier. This would be ideal for enjoying a match with a tasty snack, because a football game doesn't end without snacks. And eating too late is always unhealthy. But even in this case, life is not a dream concert. There is a clear trend towards shorter nights. Ski jumping and slalom under floodlights or biathlon races after dark have long been established, to paraphrase Otto Ernst Hesse. In 1938 he wrote a catchy tune for Theo Mackeben's music, which was heard for the first time in the film “Dance on the Volcano” by Gustav Gründgens. By the way, the film also takes place in Paris and the motto fits perfectly into our time of sporting performances long after sunset. “The night is not for sleeping,” says Hesse. The content was more about carousing at night.

Anyone who wants to dedicate themselves to the rush of top sporting performance will probably have no other option in the future than to perhaps pre-sleep so that they can then follow the events fully awake and well rested, although in the case of Nadal and Djokovic we have to thank the actors. They didn't cause boredom for a single second and prevented fatigue from arising with brilliant rallies. And so it was a magical night that you won't forget so quickly, like many other nights in our lives that maybe didn't even have anything to do with sports.

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Magical, but too short nights

The night is not always just for sleeping, as our columnist and enthusiastic late riser Sigi Heinrich realized.

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