In yet another late-night epic that concluded just short of 3am on Thursday, Carlos Alcaraz advanced to the semi-finals of the US Open with a thrilling five-set comeback victory over another young star, Jannik Sinner. It was a match full of abrupt momentum shifts, remarkable shot-making, stellar sportsmanship and an extraordinary high level of energy that those in attendance were lucky to be part of.
But for many millions of American tennis fans watching on the east coast – and west coast for that matter – the riveting conclusion came too late for their tired eyes. With a return to school and work for many, after enjoying the last fleeting days of summer, it was too tough an ask of fans to stay up well past midnight yet again. And that’s not to mention those who stayed to watch in the stadium, some of whom had to navigate New York’s public transport system in the early hours of the morning, which is never an enticing prospect.
And herein lies a dilemma that the US Open has faced since night sessions were first introduced in 1975. The initiation of night play was a very welcome change, as it allowed people who actually worked or went to school to be able to view their favorite sport after their daytime responsibilities were done. Being able to watch tennis at night was yet another reason the sport exploded in the United States in the 1970s.
Yet, while the nocturnal atmosphere undoubtedly ratchets up the energy and there’s a special quality to the matches under the lights in Gotham, this has nonetheless become a double-edged sword for those players who have to play consecutive matches late at night. And such is the case with Alcaraz in the last two rounds. And what makes it even more of an issue is that his semi-final opponent, American Frances Tiafoe, has concluded his fourth round and quarter-final contests before the dinner hour.
On Monday evening, the 19-year-old Alcaraz played the second night match and it too ended in the early morning hours. His five-set, nearly four-hour victory over former champion Marin Cilic was a fantastic match to witness for night owls and those brave fans at bars who earn the scorn of other sports fans by requesting the TV be switched on to the tennis.
Then on Wednesday, while Tiafoe notched a surprisingly easy straight-set win over ninth seeded Andrey Rublev that ended around 5pm, Alcaraz had to wait until after 9pm to start his match with Sinner, a match that lasted five hours and 15 minutes (some may facetiously argue that, as a teenager, the Spaniard will enjoy going to bed and getting up late).
Some will complain that the women’s quarterfinal encounter between Iga Swiatek and American Jessica Pegula should have been the second match on Ashe. But that wouldn’t have been fair either since the women play their semi-finals on Thursday night without a day of rest.
What would have been a more logical scenario is Tiafoe should have played on Wednesday night, since he didn’t have to play late in his previous round. This is especially curious since usually the Open wants its top draws and American players to have the featured night spot.
Of course, it’s an impossible task for the USTA to tailor the schedule in such a way as to make everyone happy. Some hate playing in the sweltering sun, some don’t like to play at night, some like the early afternoon, others detest having the first match of the day, and on and on.
Of course, Wimbledon doesn’t have these kind of late night finishes and its television audiences – and reputation – don’t seem to suffer. But that’s due to local laws around public events and the vagaries of London’s public transport system rather than concern for players’ sleep patterns.
And the USTA should get tremendous credit for having changed their schedule ways over the last two decades; gone is the insane so-called “Super Saturday” that had the men’s semis and the women’s final play on the same card, with the men having to come back less than 24 hours later to play the final. Further, the US Open used to have the first-round spread out over three days and they smartly got rid of that practice. Finally, for the night matches, the women used to always play first but that started to change several years ago so the burden of playing the second night match is spread out.
One can only hope that Alcaraz will somehow be well-rested enough to bring his extraordinary all-around arsenal to bear against the always-exciting-to-watch Tiafoe. The passionate, bleary eyed tennis fans will feel richly rewarded for their service.