US Open scheduling faces criticism after ‘not normal’ late-night finishes

Ben Shelton’s record-breaking late-night victory over Carlos Alcaraz has reignited the debate over scheduling at the US Open, where a flurry of finishes in the early hours have prompted calls for a curfew or radical demands for shorter matches.

Shelton’s four-hour and 28-minute quarter-final defeat of Alcaraz wrapped up at 3:34am on Wednesday — the latest finish in the 145-year history of the US Open.

While late-night finishes are nothing new — in 2022 Alcaraz himself battled Jannik Sinner until 2:50am in the previous latest finish — this year’s tournament has reached new levels.

Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz is in action in his match against the US’ Ben Shelton during their US Open men’s singles quarter-final match in New York on Tuesday.

Photo: Getty images via AFP

So far there have been four finishes which stretched past 2:00am, while other sessions have seen players on court past 1:00am.

Shelton and Alcaraz’s late-night thriller did not get under way until after 11pm on Tuesday, while Venus Williams’ first-round loss to Sofia Kenin did not start until after midnight, eventually wrapping at just after 2:00am.

Writing on X on Tuesday, US tennis great Martina Navratilova suggested the scheduling had reached a tipping point.

“Something has got to give,” Navratilova wrote. “This is not ok and it is not normal,” she said.

Talking about the scheduling earlier in the tournament, Navratilova suggested the US Open should limit the evening session to either one men’s or women’s singles match, in addition to a doubles tie.

At the moment, the US Open typically places a men’s and women’s singles clash on Ashe during its primetime night session.

That though is fraught with risk if either of the two matches goes the distance.

“I think they need to fix the night session. It’s too late,” Navratilova said.

“You’re never on the court at midnight and you never start a match at midnight, so it’s counterproductive for everybody, spectators and the players,” she said.

Former British tennis star Tim Henman, working at the US Open as an analyst for Sky Sports, believes while the raucous night sessions in New York are an integral part of the tournament, a provision could be introduced to move matches to another court if they have not started by a certain time.

“It’s hard. It is not ideal as a professional athlete when you’re playing at that time, but if you look at it from a tournament’s point of view, it’s a massive part of their business model to have those two sessions, to sell, you know, tickets here on Ashe,” Henman said.

“So, for me, we need night sessions, they’re iconic for this event. But also, I think there should be sort of almost protected start times,” he said.

Some commentators though have floated an even more dramatic solution: Reduce the length of tennis matches by slashing the number of sets.