Former world number one Andy Murray criticized US Open organizers on Monday, calling the scheduling at the Grand Slam tournament "a total mess" after a women's match concluded at a record 2:15 am. China's seventh-seed Zheng Qinwen replicated her Olympic gold medal win over Donna Vekic of Croatia with a 7-6 (7/2), 4-6, 6-2 victory, setting a new late-night benchmark for women's singles at Flushing Meadows.
Murray, however, viewed the record as a negative development. "The tennis scheduling situation is a total mess. It looks so amateurish having matches going on at 2, 3, 4am. Sort it out @usopen," the 2012 US Open champion, who has recently retired, posted on X. The fourth round clash between Zheng and Vekic, which lasted two hours and 50 minutes, only began around 11:25 p.m. on Sunday.
A men's match had preceded Zheng and Vekic's, starting later than the scheduled 7 pm due to an overrun in the afternoon session. The Zheng-Vekic match surpassed the previous latest finishing women's match record of 2:13 a.m. from 2021, when Maria Sakkari defeated Bianca Andreescu.
Zheng, 21, remained unfazed by her early morning finish. "It's always nice to play in the night session because I'm used to it," she told the remaining fans at Arthur Ashe Stadium. "It's the first time I've played here in New York at two in the morning. It's unbelievable. Thanks to the fans that aren't sleeping tonight for supporting me here."
This year's US Open has faced numerous late finishes despite organizers' efforts to address the issue, which has also impacted other Grand Slam events. World number two Aryna Sabalenka's third-round win over Ekaterina Alexandrova started at 12:08 am and ended at 1:48 am. "I got back at 3:00 am, probably fall asleep at 4:00," Sabalenka recounted.
Germany's Alexander Zverev also experienced a late finish, defeating Tomas Martin Etcheverry at 2:35 am. US Open chiefs have introduced a new policy allowing the tournament referee to move matches to another court if necessary. However, tournament director Stacey Allaster noted that implementation depends on various factors.
Zverev is familiar with early morning finishes, having won a match in Acapulco at 4:55 a.m. The latest finish in all Grand Slams was 4:34 a.m. at the 2008 Australian Open. In response to such late finishes, the ATP and WTA have issued new guidelines limiting the number of evening matches and prohibiting starts after 11 p.m., though these do not apply to Grand Slams.
