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A few years ago, researchers in California proposed an interesting hypothesis. Could sleep deprivation impact a person’s willingness to assist someone else? To investigate this idea, they conducted an experiment like any diligent scientists would do.
The researchers selected 24 participants and divided them into two groups: one stayed awake all night while the other group slept normally. Each participant completed a set of questions, including “Would I give up my seat on a crowded bus for a 60-year-old woman?”, and completed a social cognition task while undergoing an MRI scan. The experiment was then repeated with the groups switched.
What was their discovery? They found that not getting enough sleep can actually make us more hostile. Their study, titled “Sleep deprivation causes people to be less willing to help others, both in personal and societal settings,” showed that 78% of participants experienced a decrease in their inclination to assist others after staying up all night. Interestingly, this effect was observed in both friends and strangers.
Additionally, the experts discovered that the unwillingness to assist others was linked to a decrease in activity in important brain regions responsible for processing the mental state, emotions, and personal needs of others as observed in MRI scans.
May I propose a suggestion to the Center for Human Sleep Science, who conducted this intriguing research? Kindly arrange for a prompt flight to Melbourne. You may have discovered a viable explanation for the Australian Open organizers’ seeming confusion with Thursday’s match ending at 3:39am on Friday, when Daniil Medvedev ultimately defeated Emil Ruusuvuori in a tense five-set match.
I am being direct. This was a ridiculous, foolish, and extremely self-centered action – and the people responsible should feel ashamed. At 3:39am, there is only one appropriate activity: sleeping.
The sparsely populated audience was able to witness one of the tournament’s latest finishes, with Medvedev finally retiring at 7am. However, he received ample compensation. But what about the staff and media who had to stay? Or the ballboys and girls who received nothing but a gift bag and food allowance? This behavior would make even Ebenezer Scrooge feel ashamed.
Volunteering itself is not a problem. I am familiar with individuals who were part of the ball crew at Wimbledon and chose to do it for the companionship and opportunities (they received approximately £200 every two weeks). However, when it involves teenagers and young adults staying up past 4am, it appears to be taking advantage of them.
The Medvedev-Ruusuvuori match was not a singular occurrence. In 2022, Carlos Alcaraz’s quarter-final victory over Jannik Sinner at the US Open ended at 2:50am, making it the latest finish in the New York tournament. In Melbourne last year, Andy Murray’s victory over Thanasi Kokkinakis did not conclude until after 4am.
Although one might assume this would result in a deep, introspective experience, Tumaini Carayol, the Guardian’s tennis journalist, informs me that there has been less uproar in Melbourne regarding the late match endings this year.
One exception was the Russian player Karen Khachanov, who warned that starting just before 11pm was “not normal and not healthy for anybody to recover”. But tennis knows this already. Last year Elena Rybakina described herself as “destroyed” after her match with Daria Kasatkina in Montreal finished at 2.55am and she then struggled physically in the subsequent weeks.
Admittedly tennis is not the only culprit. The NFL game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Miami Dolphins this month was played in -20C temperatures which was not only grim on the players but led to more than 30 fans being treated for hypothermia. Meanwhile at the 2022 World Cup, I was at a Lionel Messi press conference that started about 2.30am after Argentina beat the Netherlands – and, much later, in a huge queue with fans at the Lusail metro station.
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Late endings are ingrained in the tennis schedule more than any other sport. Although there are new regulations from the ATP and WTA stating that matches must not start after 11pm, this does not apply to major tournaments.
The organizers of the Australian Open may argue that their decision to start the tournament a day earlier will result in better scheduling of matches. However, skeptics believe this move is primarily motivated by financial gain rather than avoiding late games.
This issue should not prove difficult to resolve. The Australian Open and US Open could opt for a lone evening match, similar to the French Open. Alternatively, they could begin their night sessions a bit earlier and implement a midnight curfew, which is an hour later than Wimbledon’s 11pm end time. Additionally, utilizing faster tennis balls with less fluff would result in shorter matches.
Perhaps instead of hesitating, it would be beneficial to read up on the numerous studies that demonstrate the negative impact of sleep deprivation on our physical and mental well-being.
The CIA has utilized it as a method of torture for a reason. Sleep deprivation impairs our cognitive function, weakens our immunity, and has negative impacts on our heart health, reaction times, attention, and learning abilities.
Studies conducted in hospitals have revealed that individuals who are sleep-deprived tend to make more than twice the amount of mistakes related to attention. However, there are instances where we do not require scientific evidence to steer us towards making the correct decision. Simply having basic human decency should suffice.
