Carlos Alcaraz Urges End to Matches Finishing in the Early Morning
Carlos Alcaraz has urged tennis organizers to stop scheduling matches that stretch into the early hours of the morning. His US Open quarterfinal against Ben Shelton ended at 3:33 a.m., setting a new record for the latest finish in the tournament's history.
Speaking from London just before the Laver Cup, Alcaraz said, "It is too much. They have to do something about it. I'm not saying 3:30 a.m., but even finishing at midnight is already too late."
Recent Trends in Late Finishes at Grand Slams
The trend of matches ending very late has grown rapidly. In 2022, Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner previously set the US Open record with a 2:50 a.m. finish. At the 2024 French Open, Novak Djokovic and Lorenzo Musetti pushed the limit further, concluding their match at 3:06 a.m.
This year, Venus Williams and Sofia Kenin began their US Open match at 12:13 a.m., marking the latest start time for the tournament.
Impact on Players
Reflecting on his marathon match with Shelton, Alcaraz explained, "Finishing at 3:30 means leaving the courts by 4:30, then heading back to the hotel. You don’t get to sleep until 6:30 or 7 a.m. That makes it harder to recover for the next match, giving your opponent an edge."
Scheduling Challenges at the US Open
The US Open schedules one men’s and one women’s night session each evening, typically beginning shortly after 7 p.m. But during this year's quarterfinals, two day matches went to final-set tiebreaks, delaying the first night match start to around 8:20 p.m. This caused a domino effect, resulting in Alcaraz and Shelton's five-set battle extending into the early morning.
The USTA did not respond to requests for comment. Previously, USTA director Craig Tiley defended the schedule, stating, "I hear complaints about late finishes, but I don’t receive any suggestions on how to fix it."
Late Finishes Across Other Grand Slams
Other Grand Slam events also struggle to avoid late endings. The Australian Open follows a similar two-match night-session format and has recorded three finishes later than Shelton-Alcaraz’s, including the Grand Slam record at 4:34 a.m. in 2008 between Lleyton Hewitt and Marcos Baghdatis.
Roland-Garros introduced a single-match night session starting at 8:15 p.m. in 2021, but its evening slots are mostly reserved for men’s matches, drawing criticism.
Among the four Grand Slams, only Wimbledon avoids such late finishes, thanks to an 11 p.m. curfew imposed by local regulations.
Alcaraz on Fans and Scheduling
"It's a shame a match like this didn’t reach more people because they had to go to bed or work the next day," Alcaraz said. "If it had started at 7 or 8 p.m., finishing by 11 at the latest, the stadium would have been packed. Many missed it due to the timing."
