Lleyton Hewitt and Marcos Baghdatis recorded the latest finish in Grand Slam history at the Australian Open in 2008 when they ended their third-round encounter at 4:34 a.m. The two will meet again Saturday what is expected to be another night match, but one that ends a little earlier.
The Australian Open's evening session consists of one women's and one men's match, but this year's new scheduling policy means the men no longer always go second. As a result, Hewitt and Baghdatis could take the court at 7:00 p.m. instead of nearly midnight like last time.
Hewitt still has vivid memories of the encounter, which he won in five sets. Baghdatis, meanwhile, appears to want to forget.
"Absolutely," said Hewitt when asked if the match was the most memorable of his career. "It was sort of epic in the locker room before we went on the court as well. We both warmed up and kept getting told we were gonna be the next match on -- once the night session started, they were going to be moving the women's.
"That all got canceled, and then we're sitting in a situation where the women ended up going three sets and we [thought] weren't gonna be playing that night.
"Then to go five sets like it did, it just added to the drama."
Baghdatis doesn't recall the match fondly, having wasted several opportunities to win
"I forgot about it. It's nothing," he said. "So, you know, it's a match that maybe I played and finished 4:45 in the morning. But it's a great match -- I'm [just] not thinking about it every night before going to sleep, you know."
The Cypriot will be hoping to avoid a rerun of the 2008 encounter, having just cramped his way through a five-setter in his previous round while Hewitt advanced in straight sets.