Late-night finishes have become a significant talking point at this year's US Open, impacting players including men's semi-finalists Ben Shelton and Alexander Zverev. Zverev, the top seed, reported going to bed as late as 6:45am in the past week, with three of his five matches finishing after 1am.
American eighth seed Ben Shelton completed his quarter-final win over Carlos Alcaraz at 3:34am on Wednesday. He is set to face 11th seed Frances Tiafoe, who finished his quarter-final earlier on Tuesday evening.
Karen Khachanov, Zverev's semi-final opponent, has not played beyond midnight and had more time to prepare after his quarter-final finished before 7pm on Wednesday. Matt Little, Andy Murray's former strength and conditioning coach, highlighted the advantage for players who finish earlier, allowing for a full night's rest.
The issue of late finishes is not new, with Andy Murray famously finishing a match at 4am at the 2023 Australian Open. While the Australian Open has made some adjustments to reduce night session delays, and the ATP and WTA have introduced rules preventing tour matches from starting after 11pm, these rules do not apply to Grand Slams. Last week, Venus Williams and Sofia Kenin began their first-round match at 12:13am, marking the latest start in US Open history.