The scheduling of the US Open has come under renewed scrutiny after Ben Shelton and Carlos Alcaraz were involved in a record-breaking late-night thriller that ended at 3:34 am on Wednesday.
Shelton’s four-hour, 28-minute quarter-final defeat against Alcaraz became the latest finish in the 145-year history of the US Open. The match did not begin until after 11 pm on Tuesday, raising fresh concerns about the impact of late starts and finishes on players.
Late-night matches are not new at Flushing Meadows. In 2022, Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner played until 2:50 am, which was previously the tournament’s latest finish. However, this year’s edition has seen the issue become increasingly prominent.
So far, four matches have finished after 2 am, while several other sessions have continued beyond 1 am.
Navratilova: ‘This is not ok’
Tennis legend Martina Navratilova has called for changes to the US Open’s scheduling system, arguing that the current format can result in matches starting and finishing at unreasonable hours.
“This is not ok and it is not normal,” Navratilova wrote on X after Shelton and Alcaraz’s marathon encounter.
She had earlier suggested limiting the evening session on Arthur Ashe Stadium to one singles match, alongside a doubles match.
The US Open currently generally schedules both a men’s and women’s singles match during its prime-time night session. However, a lengthy opening match can push the second contest deep into the night.
Navratilova argued that changing the format could prevent players from having to begin matches around midnight while still maintaining the attraction of the night session.
Henman suggests protected start times
Former British tennis player Tim Henman, who is working as an analyst at the tournament, acknowledged that the night sessions are an important part of the US Open experience and its commercial model.
However, he suggested introducing “protected start times” for matches.
Under his proposal, if a second singles match has not started by around 9:30 or 10 pm, it could potentially be moved to another court. Similarly, a scheduled match could be relocated if an earlier five-set contest threatens to cause a major delay.
Henman said night sessions are “iconic” to the US Open but stressed that player welfare also needs to be considered.
Calls for shorter matches
Some commentators have gone further, suggesting that the length of tennis matches themselves could eventually be reconsidered.
American sports podcaster Bill Simmons argued that tennis matches are too long and proposed reducing the number of games required to win a set.
The debate follows comments from Andrew Abdo, chief executive of the organisation that runs the Australian Open, who suggested that Grand Slam tournaments could eventually consider best-of-three men’s matches in the early rounds, rather than the traditional best-of-five format.
However, US Open semi-finalist Frances Tiafoe remains firmly in favour of retaining five-set matches.
While acknowledging that he does not necessarily enjoy playing five-setters, Tiafoe said the format is an important part of tennis history, pointing to memorable marathon battles involving Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
The latest controversy has therefore put the spotlight on a longstanding challenge for Grand Slam organisers: how to preserve the spectacle of late-night tennis while protecting players from excessively late starts and finishes.
