The famous moniker of New York as the municipality that never sleeps has taken on a punishing reality for competitors at the US Open, where a string of late-night finishes has ignited fresh debates regarding tournament fairness and player welfare. Several athletes have found themselves leaving Flushing Meadows in the early morning hours, creating stark scheduling disparities as the final rounds approach.
Alexander Zverev, the tournament's top seed, described experiencing severe fatigue akin to crossing multiple time zones after enduring several matches concluding past the 1:00 am mark. The German player noted that his rest schedule has been severely disrupted, with sleep sometimes eluding him until nearly 7:00 am. His upcoming semi-final against Karen Khachanov will mark his first daytime appearance of the tournament, offering a stark contrast to his opponent. Khachanov has avoided late-night contests entirely and enjoyed an earlier quarter-final conclusion earlier in the week.
The scheduling crunch reached a historic peak when American eighth seed Ben Shelton secured his semi-final berth by defeating Carlos Alcaraz in a grueling five-set battle that wrapped up at 3:34 am. That contest broke tournament records for the latest concluding match in the history of the New York major. Shelton is now set to face compatriot Frances Tiafoe, whose quarter-final match concluded at a much more reasonable evening hour.
Tennis experts and former competitors have raised concerns about the physiological toll these nocturnal schedules inflict on athletes. Matt Little, who served as a long-time conditioning coach for Andy Murray, emphasized that a single night of severely disrupted rest triggers a lingering physical deficit that impacts performance for days. Little pointed to a similar controversial late-night finish involving Murray at the Australian Open as evidence of the urgent need for scheduling reforms.
The issue of excessively late finishes is not isolated to the men's draw. Earlier in the tournament, a first-round encounter between Venus Williams and Sofia Kenin set a record for the latest start time in US Open history, beginning shortly after midnight. Multiple other matches throughout the fortnight have extended well past 1:00 am and 2:00 am, prompting criticism from tennis legends such as Martina Navratilova, who publicly questioned the normalcy and safety of such scheduling practices.
While governing bodies have implemented minor adjustments at other tournaments—such as restricting late-night starts on the regular professional tours and reducing daytime match loads at the Australian Open—major championships continue to grapple with the pressures of broadcast windows and packed daily line-ups. As players attempt to recover through rigorous nutrition, hydration, and strategic napping, pressure is mounting on tournament organizers to reevaluate how late matches are permitted to run.
Reporting based on coverage first published by BBC Sport. Read the original report at BBC Sport.
