When Corentin Moutet packed his things in the catacombs of the hall in Paris-Bercy late on Wednesday evening and set off, one might have thought that the organizers had moved the local hero's match to a smaller pitch. The main square was occupied by Rafael Nadal and Tommy Paul, the clock showed just after 11 p.m., Paul had just managed to equalize the set.

But if you pay for the night session in Bercy, you get two matches. The fact that these evening games can sometimes go on until three in the morning, well, that can happen. Paris-Bercy is not exceptional, older sports fans will remember Andy Murray's night shifts in Washington or at the US Open in general.

Nadal and Paul play their entry fee

On Wednesday, however, a few things came together in Paris that caused massive delays. First of all, Gilles Simon had postponed his retirement again, winning against Taylor Fritz after more than three hours of play. Which shifted the start time of the game between Nadal and Fritz from 7:30 p.m. to just after nine. With the score of 6: 3 and 2: 1 (with a break) for Nadal, it was not foreseeable that Rafa and his American opponent would then play their entry fee in full.

And then Moutet and Cameron Norrie were allowed to play as early as possible on Thursday. It is well known that the two are players who win their points more through skillful rallies than through a flood of aces. And that the game would only end after three grueling sets with 6:3, 5:7 and 7:6 (3) after three in the morning, no surprise.

Those fans who stuck it out to the end and saw their local favorite win were the first to be happy. And Stefanos Tsitsipas. He can now compete with a certainly not completely fresh Corentin Moutet.

Here the single tableau in Paris-Bercy