US Open under fire for ‘total mess’ of late finishes

Former world number one Andy Murray hit out at US Open organisers on Monday, describing the Grand Slam tournament’s scheduling as “a total mess” after a women’s match finished in a record 2:15 hours.

Seventh-seeded Zheng Qinwen of China repeated her Olympic gold medal win over Donna Vekic of Croatia with her 7-6 (7/2), 4-6, 6-2 victory, setting a new milestone for her late win on a draw in the women’s singles at Flushing Meadows.

However, Murray stressed that the record was a low point.

“The tennis schedule is a total mess. It looks so amateurish that matches are happening at 2, 3, 4 in the morning. Fix it @usopen,” Murray, the 2012 US Open winner who recently retired, posted on X.

The fourth-round showdown between Zheng and Vekic lasted two hours and 50 minutes and didn’t start until around 11:25 p.m. on Sunday evening.

It was preceded by a four-set, three-hour men’s match, but it started later than the scheduled 7pm time because the afternoon session had run over.

The match between Zheng and Vekic broke the record for the final women’s match of 2021, when Maria Sakkari defeated Bianca Andreescu in a round of 16.

Zheng, 21, was unfazed by her early finish.

“It’s always fun to play at night because I’m used to it,” Zheng told the few die-hard fans still inside the massive 24,000-seat Arthur Ashe Stadium.

“It’s the first time I’m playing here in New York at 2am. It’s unbelievable. Thanks to the fans who are not sleeping tonight for supporting me here.”

This year’s US Open is struggling with tournaments that have finished late, despite promises from organizers to address the issue. The problem has also affected other Grand Slam events in Melbourne and Paris.

– ‘Difficult’ –

World number two Aryna Sabalenka’s third-round victory over Ekaterina Alexandrova began in a record time of 12:08 on Saturday and ended in 1:48

“I was back at 3:00 in the morning and probably fell asleep at 4:00 in the morning,” Sabalenka said.

“I’m glad I didn’t play for three hours because I probably would have come back at five in the morning and this would have been difficult.”

German Alexander Zverev won in four sets and in the third round against Tomas Martin Etcheverry on Saturday at 02:35.

That was the second-to-last finish in US Open history, behind only the 2:50 finish between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner in 2022.

World number four Zverev was back on court on Sunday afternoon to defeat Brandon Nakashima and reach the quarter-finals.

The US Open Chiefs have implemented a new policy this year to address the problem of late-ending matches. The tournament referee can move a match to another show court if necessary.

“We’ve had late matches here. We’re still going to have late matches here. We’re defining a policy now,” tournament director Stacey Allaster said on the eve of the US Open.

“Should the second match of the evening be in Ashe or the last match in Armstrong, and those matches have not finished by 11:15 p.m., the referee has the right to reschedule the match.”

However, she added: “It depends on a lot of variables, such as whether we have the deployment team ready, whether we have a ball team, and so on.”

– ‘Unhealthy’ –

Zverev is no stranger to early morning finishes: in Acapulco in 2022, he beat Jenson Brooksby in the first round at 4:55 a.m., the latest finish in tennis history.

The last finish in all Grand Slams was at 4:34 a.m., when Lleyton Hewitt defeated Marcos Baghdatis at the 2008 Australian Open.

In Melbourne this year, Daniil Medvedev completed a five-set victory over Emil Ruusuvuori at 3:40 a.m.

Twelve months earlier, Murray defeated Thanasi Kokkinakis just after 4am, after five hours and 45 minutes on court.

At this year’s French Open, Novak Djokovic won a match against Lorenzo Musetti in a tournament record 3:06 hours

American star Coco Gauff described such finishes as “unhealthy” for players and fans.

Earlier in 2024, the ATP and WTA, which organize the main tournaments, issued new guidelines to prevent tournaments from closing too late.

The number of evening matches is limited and no matches may be played after 11 p.m.

However, this strategy does not apply to the Grand Slams, although Wimbledon already has a locally agreed curfew of 11pm.

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