Why the best match of the US Open finished after 3 a.m. – and how it could affect Ben Shelton in the semis

After Ben Shelton’s time-zone-spanning quarterfinal against Carlos Alcaraz finished at 3:33 a.m. in New York Wednesday morning, the annual conversation of match scheduling at the US Open has kicked back up again.

Despite how bizarre it was to see the two players still battling it out in the early hours, the scene was not one alien to this year’s tournament. Over the years, titanic night sessions have become synonymous with the US Open. To some, they are exactly what makes the grand slam so special.

But for others, namely the players and fans with actual tickets, it’s becoming an unsustainable trend that pushes athletes to their absolute limits and leads to empty stands for some of the biggest matches.

So why are the US Open matches finishing so late and what, if anything, can be done about it?

While late finishes have become commonplace at the US Open, this year has been particularly bad.

Shelton’s quarterfinal win was the latest end to a day in the tournament’s history, not starting until past 11 p.m. ET, meaning many fans had to leave before the match even started.

And, in many ways, this was predictable.

Leonardo Munoz/AFP/Getty Images

American Ben Shelton beats Carlos Alcaraz in latest-ever US Open finish

The schedule at the US Open (and at two of the other three grand slams) is split into two – a day and night session – which basically allows organizers to sell two batches of tickets for the courts, essentially doubling the possible revenue.

The most high-profile matches involving the world’s best players are often saved for the evenings, allowing for more lucrative TV deals at primetime slots for fans finishing work to watch.

But with the late session in Flushing Meadows not starting until 7 p.m. ET and with no curfew in place – unlike the 11 p.m. cut off at Wimbledon – it’s no surprise that matches regularly tick past midnight.

In the case of last night, it was simply the perfect storm. Two matches before Shelton’s quarterfinal were marathons that went the distance, which pushed back the start of the night session by 30 minutes.

But even though Wednesday morning was a bit extreme, late finishes are still very frequent and currently unavoidable with the current setup.

“This is not sustainable,” 18-time grand slam singles champion Martina Navratilova warned on X earlier this tournament, after a swathe of late finishes.

“That’s simply too late to play tennis,” former tennis champion Boris Becker replied .

There is no doubt that epic night sessions can help create electric memories. But at what cost? After all, it’s clear the players are struggling with the current schedule.

After an already packed calendar throughout the season, stars are turning up tired to the US Open and then being asked to push their bodies to the limits at ungodly hours in front of dwindling crowds.

Sleep schedules, meal times and warmups are all impacted by the ticking clock. And it’s not as though players go straight home after the match ends. Shelton and Alcaraz would have had press responsibilities to perform, needed to warm down properly and eat and drink something to aid in their recovery.

How can that not impact Shelton ahead of his match against Frances Tiafoe in the final four on Friday?

“When you finish late, the next day shifts a lot,” women’s star 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.”

Sabalenka is not alone; Venus Williams also said it was “not ideal” that her match against Sofia Kenin last week didn’t start until 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.”

To combat late finishes, the simplest thing to do would surely be to start earlier, right? But that’s more complicated than you might think.

Shifting things earlier in the day might lead to less revenue from TV deals and could make it hard for fans to travel to Flushing Meadows through New York’s infamous rush hour.

US Open organizers have said they are open to suggestions, but it’s unlikely anything will change anytime soon.

Ironically, tournament director Eric Butorac spoke to ESPN earlier this month and said scheduling matches was like a “jigsaw puzzle” and was his favorite part of the job.

“In New York, it would be a challenge to start before 7 p.m. Could we do 6?” he pondered. “It’s something we’re going to address every year.”

Notably, though, he said 7 p.m. still felt like the “right time” for now.

CNN Sports has reached out to the USTA, the US Open organizers, for comment.

周三凌晨 3 点 33 分，本·谢尔顿与卡洛斯·阿尔卡拉斯的跨时区四分之一决赛在纽约结束，此后，关于美国网球公开赛赛程安排的年度讨论再次升温。

尽管看到两位选手在凌晨时分仍在激烈角逐令人感到匪夷所思，但这场景对于今年的美网来说并不陌生。多年来，精彩绝伦的夜场比赛已成为美网的标志。在一些人看来，这正是这项大满贯赛事如此特别的原因所在。

但对于其他人，特别是那些持有实际门票的球员和球迷来说，这正在成为一种不可持续的趋势，它将运动员推向极限，并导致一些最重要的比赛出现空荡荡的看台。

那么，为什么美国网球公开赛的比赛总是结束得这么晚？如果有的话，我们能做些什么来解决这个问题？

虽然美国公开赛经常出现比赛延迟结束的情况，但今年的情况尤其糟糕。

谢尔顿的四分之一决赛胜利是该赛事历史上结束得最晚的一天，比赛直到美国东部时间晚上 11 点以后才开始，这意味着许多球迷在比赛开始前就不得不离开。

从很多方面来看，这都是可以预见的。

Leonardo Munoz/AFP/Getty Images

美国选手本·谢尔顿击败卡洛斯·阿尔卡拉斯，创下美国网球公开赛最晚完赛纪录。

美国网球公开赛（以及其他三大满贯赛事中的两项）的赛程分为两部分——白天和晚上——这基本上允许组织者出售两批球场门票，从而使可能的收入翻倍。

世界顶级球员参与的最受瞩目的比赛通常安排在晚上进行，这样可以在黄金时段获得更丰厚的电视转播收入，吸引下班后的球迷观看。

但由于法拉盛草地网球公开赛的晚场比赛要到美国东部时间晚上 7 点才开始，而且没有宵禁（不像温布尔登网球公开赛那样有晚上 11 点的截止时间），所以比赛经常进行到午夜之后也就不足为奇了。

昨晚的情况简直是各种因素叠加造成的。谢尔顿四分之一决赛之前的两场比赛都是马拉松式的鏖战，打满了全场，导致晚场比赛的开始时间推迟了30分钟。

虽然周三上午的情况有点极端，但延迟下班的情况仍然非常频繁，而且在目前的安排下是无法避免的。

“这种情况是不可持续的，”18 次大满贯单打冠军得主玛蒂娜·纳芙拉蒂洛娃在本届赛事早些时候接受 X 采访时警告说，此前该赛事出现了一系列比赛在最后阶段结束的情况。

“现在打网球已经太晚了，”前网球冠军鲍里斯·贝克尔回答道。

毫无疑问，精彩的夜间比赛能创造令人难忘的回忆。但代价是什么呢？毕竟，球员们显然难以适应目前的赛程安排。

整个赛季赛程已经非常密集，明星们疲惫不堪地来到美国网球公开赛，然后又被要求在不合时宜的时间，在越来越少的观众面前，将自己的身体推向极限。

睡眠时间、用餐时间和热身都受到比赛时间的限制。而且球员们赛后也不会直接回家。谢尔顿和阿尔卡拉斯赛后还要出席新闻发布会，需要好好放松，吃点东西补充水分以帮助恢复。

这怎能不影响谢尔顿在周五与弗朗西斯·蒂亚福的半决赛中的表现呢？

“如果你结束比赛很晚，第二天的安排就会发生很大变化，”女子网球明星阿丽娜·萨巴伦卡在比赛早些时候说道。“比如，你仍然需要保证睡眠时间，所以你开始比赛的时间就会更晚。你的日程安排很容易被打乱。”

萨巴伦卡并非孤例；维纳斯·威廉姆斯也表示，她上周与索菲亚·科宁的比赛直到午夜过后才开始，“这很不理想”。

“我觉得这对我们俩来说都不是好事，所以我们都尽力了，”她说。“是啊，我不知道还有什么其他运动需要这么晚才开始。我觉得这方面肯定还有提升空间。”

为了避免迟到，最简单的办法当然是早点开始，对吧？但这比你想象的要复杂得多。

将比赛时间提前到一天中可能会导致电视转播收入减少，并且可能会让球迷难以在纽约臭名昭著的交通高峰期前往法拉盛草地公园。

美国网球公开赛组织者表示他们愿意接受建议，但短期内不太可能发生任何改变。

具有讽刺意味的是，赛事总监埃里克·布托拉克本月早些时候接受 ESPN 采访时表示，安排比赛就像“拼图游戏”，是他最喜欢的工作部分。

“在纽约，晚上7点前开始是个挑战。我们能6点开始吗？”他沉思道。“这是我们每年都要考虑的问题。”

不过值得注意的是，他表示，目前晚上 7 点仍然是“合适的时间”。

CNN体育频道已联系美国网球协会（USTA，美国网球公开赛组织方）寻求置评。