The clock ticked to 3.33am local time in New York City when Ben Shelton beat Carlos Alcaraz with a clean ace to the delight of thousands of delirious tennis fans still inside Arthur Ashe Stadium, but does something have to be done to stop these early-morning finishes?
Three long matches earlier on Tuesday meant Alcaraz and Shelton did not step on to court until gone 11pm.
The US Open craves its night matches and players love the energy the fans provide – even when a number of matches have already gone past 2am this year.
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Highlights of the US Open match between Ben Shelton and Carlos Alcaraz
Thousands stayed to the end, with Arthur Ashe Stadium perhaps still one-third full for the finish. Shelton benefited from a home-crowd even against the popular Alcaraz, with fans chanting his name along with “USA! USA!”
“It’s incredible,” Shelton said. “I always say that this is the greatest sports city in the world, I say that this is the greatest stadium in the world. I’m just hoping that my best friend and my sister over there don’t have to be at work at 6am in three hours.”
But Martina Navratilova was not impressed at yet another early-morning finish, the former world No 1 posting on X: “Something has got to give – this is not OK and it is not normal – no other sport might start at 11AM or 11PM. In the same event.”
So have we now reached an extreme? The early-morning finishes have stirred frustration and concerns about how organisers are managing the schedule at the Grand Slam event with numerous matches straying well past midnight.
The US Open took to social media with a light-hearted nod to the late night, offering a fill-in-the-blank letter for fans to ask their bosses to be excused from work on Wednesday.
“We understand how important showing up is, but sometimes you have to make time for things you’re passionate about,” the post on X stated. “Carlos Alcaraz and Ben Shelton put on an absolute stellar performance during their US Open quarterfinal, and ______ was a fully committed fan who was completely locked in from start to finish.”
Speaking on the Served Podcast, host Andy Roddick defended the late-night finishes, saying: “I know a lot of the comments are, you know, ‘How do you finish at 4 in the morning?’ and all of that,” he said.
“Well, every match goes to a match tie-break except for one. And you’ve got to get 25,000 people out of a stadium responsibly, and you’ve got to get 25,000 people in responsibly. So, I hear a lot of complaining. I don’t hear a lot of proposed solutions.”
What is the impact of late-night finishes?
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Watch this insane point between Shelton and Alcaraz
Sleep schedules, meal times and warm-ups are all impacted by the ticking clock.
“When you finish late, the next day shifts a lot,” Aryna Sabalenka said earlier in the tournament. “Like, you still need to get your hours of sleep, so you start later. You just can really mess up your schedule.”
Sabalenka is not alone; Venus Williams also said it was “not ideal” that her match against Sofia Kenin last Monday didn’t start until past midnight.
“I think it wasn’t great for either of us, so I think we both tried our best,” she said. “Yeah, I just don’t know any other sport where you have to start that late. I definitely think there’s room for improvement there.”
Is there a solution?
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Highlights of Shelton against Denis Shapovalov at the US Open
Speaking on Sky Sports Tennis, coach Ryan Harrison said there’s no solution to the late-night finishes while former Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli concluded: “From a TV point of view it’s great because you have people on the edge of their sofa and they want to watch the match from home.
“But I will say, ultimately, one match a night especially when you get down to the quarter-finals and you know those matches are going to be a lot closer could potentially be the solution.
“I’d say in the first week you can have two matches because you know some of the matches might be one-sided, but as you move on, definitely one match.”
The US Open is live on Sky Sports from August 30. Stream tennis with no contract on NOW and the Sky Sports App. You can also watch the Laver Cup at The O2 in London from 25-27 September live on Sky Sports.
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