Despite facing heavy criticism from players and fans, US Open 2023 organisers have decided not to change their schedule for the final slam of the year. Tournament director Stacey Allaster confirmed that there will be no change in schedule this year at the Flushing Meadows.
The night session at the US Open begins at 7 p.m. Due to which, the matches can stretch into the early hours of the following morning.
Last year’s champion, Carlos Alcaraz, beat Jannik Sinner in a five-set quarterfinal that lasted more than five hours and concluded at 2:50 a.m., the latest finish in U.S. Open history.
Late finishing matches are also common at the Australian Open, with Andy Murray describing his 4:05 a.m. finish in a contest against Thanasi Kokkinakis this year as a “farce”.
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Players have faced similar issues at tour events, with Elena Rybakina saying she felt “destroyed” by the Montreal schedule after her quarterfinal ended at 3 a.m. last week.
“Without question late-night matches were heavily discussed and reviewed after the 2022 US Open,” Allaster told reporters.
“We looked at starting the evening session earlier, instead of 7 p.m. start at 6 p.m., but it’s not really a possibility because it’s hard for New Yorkers to get here even at 7 p.m.
“We talked about one match at night, but we felt that’s not fair to our fans.”
Women’s world number one Iga Swiatek last week called for better scheduling at events for the sake of player health.
“One of the realities we have in tennis is that we’re not defined by a start and an end time. We can have a short match or we can have a five-hour match,” Allaster said.
“At the moment, we’re staying the course with two night matches. We’ll continue to evaluate it.”
The US Open 2023 takes place from August 28 to September 10.
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