3:33 a.m. is where it starts
Carlos Alcaraz never quite got over that night. Knocked out of the US Open by Ben Shelton in a quarter-final that finished at 3:33 a.m., the Spaniard used a press conference in London, on the eve of the Laver Cup, to call for an end to late finishes at Grand Slams. The match, a five-set, four-hour-28-minute battle (6-7, 6-1, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6), remains the latest-ending match in US Open history.
“For a player who finishes at 3:30 in the morning, that means we have to leave the courts at 4:30, then head back to the hotel. You’re not in bed before 6:30 or 7,” the world No. 3 said. “To recover before your next match, your opponent has the advantage. I’m not talking about 3:30, but even finishing at midnight is already too late.”
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A recurring problem, contested fixes
Alcaraz’s case is not an outlier. Novak Djokovic beat Lorenzo Musetti at Roland Garros in 2024 in a match that ended at 3:07 a.m. Wimbledon enforces an 11 p.m. curfew on matches. The US Open, Roland Garros and the Australian Open have never set one.
Two fixes keep coming up: switching men’s Grand Slam matches to best-of-three, already the format everywhere else on the ATP tour, or shortening sets to four games instead of six, an idea Djokovic floated back in August.
Agassi defends the gladiator sport
Not every legend agrees. Andre Agassi, captain of Team World at the Laver Cup and an eight-time Grand Slam champion, wants to keep things as they are. “I’m absolutely convinced we should keep this five-set format,” the American said, though he doesn’t dismiss the scheduling problem outright: “We don’t want it to go that late. It’s unfortunate. I’ve found myself in that situation plenty of times. But it’s still a gladiator sport. I love that.”
For Agassi, the line should be drawn elsewhere: “There has to be a distinction between winning the Grand Slams, the biggest tournaments, and the rest of the weeks of the year.” A defense that leaves the scheduling question itself unanswered.
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