Epic Djokovic vs. Musetti match or UEFA Champions League Final? 'Both!,' says Alcaraz

Sports fans were spolied for choice as night fell Saturday in Europe between what eventually became a record-setting third-round Roland Garros victory for Novak Djokovic against Lorenzo Musetti, which began before 11 p.m. on Saturday and ended at 3:07 a.m. on Sunday, and the UEFA Champions League Final between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund.

But which one did Carlos Alcaraz, an avid lover and player of both soccer and tennis, have his eyes on?

Answer: Yes.

"I was watching both! In the big screen, I was watching the football, but in the iPod, I was watching Novak," the world No. 3, whose Real Madrid side won the game 2-0, confessed after beating Felix Auger-Aliassime in Sunday's fourth round.

While Alcaraz was thrilled to see his favorite soccer team win its 15th title through to its conclusion, he said that the bulk of Djokovic's heroics, largely, took place too late in the night for him.

"It started too late, I'm not going to lie. I watched the first set, until the 4-1 in the second set, and then I had to have rest. I had to go to sleep," Alcaraz said.

"I would've loved to watch until the last ball. When I woke up in the morning, I saw an unbelievable match between Novak and Lorenzo."

Others agreed: Djokovic's victory in the latest-ending match in Roland Garros history was a hot topic in the press room as fourth-round play began Sunday, with Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek both echoing a refrain that's becoming more and more common at tennis' biggest events: Playing deep into the night doesn't benefit anyone.

"It's a complicated thing, but I definitely think for the health and safety of the players it would be in the sport's best interest I think to try to avoid those matches finishing, or starting, after a certain time," Gauff said.

Alcaraz, too, expressed his preferences for playing earlier matches when he met the media.

"We have to do a lot of things that is really important things to recover for the next matches," he said. "It's not only the last ball. We have a lot of important things to do. And Novak, I'm sure he went to go to sleep at 6:00 a.m., and the last point finished at 3:00, something like that. Three hours between the last point until he went to go to sleep.

"It's really difficult to recover when you are going to go to sleep so, so late. I mean, for me it's much better to finish at 6:00, having dinner really, really well at restaurant, a good restaurant, good food. So everything is better if you finish early.

"The night session is a real thing, so we can't change it. We have to adapt ourselves as much as or as better as we can to [playing] the [night] matches."