Shelton Beats Alcaraz at 3:33am — Does the US Open Have a Scheduling Problem?

Ben Shelton beat Carlos Alcaraz at 3:33am local time in New York, and the tennis world is arguing about whether the US Open has a scheduling problem.

The quarterfinal started just after 11pm and ended with Shelton winning 6-7 (5-7) 6-1 6-3 1-6 7-6 (10-7) in front of thousands of fans still inside Arthur Ashe Stadium. Three long matches earlier on Tuesday pushed the start time back, and the finish was one of several past 2am this year.

Shelton’s reaction

Shelton celebrated the home crowd, who chanted his name and “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.”

Navratilova’s complaint

Martina Navratilova was not impressed. The former world No 1 posted 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.”

The US Open responded with a light-hearted post, offering a fill-in-the-blank letter for fans to ask bosses for a day off.

“We understand how important showing up is, but sometimes you have to make time for things you’re passionate about,” the post 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.”

Roddick’s defense

Andy Roddick defended the late finishes on the Served Podcast.

“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.”

Players feel the strain

The late nights ripple into the next day for players.

“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.”

Venus Williams said the same after her match against Sofia Kenin last Monday started 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.”

The TV trade-off

The late matches are good for television. The question is whether that justifies the cost to players.

Bartoli’s proposal

Marion Bartoli, a former Wimbledon champion, said the solution may be fewer matches per night in the later rounds.

“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,” she said. “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.”

Coach Ryan Harrison told Sky Sports Tennis there is no solution to the late-night finishes. He offered no alternative.

Harrison’s view

Harrison sees no fix for the scheduling problem.

What happens next

The question of whether organisers will change the format remains open.

Thousands of fans stayed to the end, with the stadium perhaps one-third full for the finish. Shelton got the win, and his joke about his friend and sister needing to be at work at 6am captured the absurdity of the hour.

Source: skysports.com

Ben Shelton · Carlos Alcaraz · late-night matches · tennis schedule · US Open