US Open 2026: Why Tennis Keeps Sending Players Onto Court After Midnight

The late finish to Venus Williams' first-round match against Sofia Kenin at the US Open has once again exposed one of tennis' most persistent problems: the conflict between player welfare, spectator demands and the business of Grand Slam tennis.

Williams and Kenin were scheduled for Sunday night on Arthur Ashe Stadium, but did not take the court until shortly after midnight on Monday. Kenin eventually completed her straight-sets victory after 2am, with Williams later describing the scheduling as "not ideal".

The delay was caused by Novak Djokovic's five-set battle with Mariano Navone, which lasted four hours and 36 minutes and pushed the night session deep into the early hours.

It is a problem that has become increasingly familiar at the Grand Slams, where matches have no fixed duration and a single long contest can disrupt an entire day's schedule.

Why Do US Open Matches Start So Late?

The US Open, Australian Open and French Open use separate day and night sessions.

At Flushing Meadows, the evening session traditionally begins at 7pm, with one men's and one women's match scheduled for Arthur Ashe Stadium.

The model makes commercial sense. Organisers can sell the same seat twice - once for the day session and again for the night session - while evening tickets generally command higher prices.

There is also a significant television incentive.

ESPN agreed a reported $2.04 billion deal in 2024 to broadcast every US Open match in the US through 2037. Primetime tennis therefore has substantial value to broadcasters and tournament organisers.

The problem is that tennis cannot guarantee when a match will finish.

A five-set men's contest can last four or five hours, while a long women's match can also stretch beyond three hours. When those matches are stacked together, the second night-session match can be pushed towards - or beyond - midnight.

Novak Djokovic's Marathon Created The Problem

That is precisely what happened on Sunday.

Djokovic and Navone battled for four hours and 36 minutes, with the Serbian eventually losing 7-6(5), 5-7, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1.

That meant Williams and Kenin could not begin until after midnight.

By the time Kenin completed her victory, the clock had passed 2am and large sections of the 23,933-capacity Arthur Ashe Stadium were empty.

For a marquee match involving Williams, potentially her final US Open singles appearance, it was hardly the setting organisers would have wanted.

Why Late Matches Are A Problem For Players

The biggest issue is not simply that players finish late. It is what comes afterwards.

A player finishing at 2am still has mandatory media commitments, treatment, recovery, food and travel before they can properly wind down.

Coco Gauff previously explained that players finishing at 3am may not get to sleep until 5am, 6am or even 7am.

That can disrupt everything from sleep and nutrition to recovery and preparation for the next round.

Players also have little control over when they are required to compete. They can spend several hours waiting for an earlier match to finish before finally being called onto court.

The uncertainty can affect warm-ups, meals, energy management and body temperature before they have even played a point.

Wimbledon Has A Different Approach

Wimbledon offers a useful contrast.

Play begins at 11am and has a set cut-off of 11pm. If a match cannot be completed by then, it resumes the following day.

That can frustrate players and spectators when a contest is close to its conclusion, but the system provides certainty.

Players know the latest possible finishing time, while spectators know they will not be leaving the All England Club in the middle of the night.

The economics are also different. Wimbledon does not rely on advertising revenue in the same way US broadcasters do, reducing the incentive for guaranteed late-night television slots.

The Bigger Fight: Players vs Grand Slams

Scheduling is also tied to a much broader dispute over the relationship between players and Grand Slam organisers.

Players have been pushing for a greater share of the enormous revenues generated by the majors while raising concerns over late finishes, recovery periods, media obligations and pension contributions.

The issue has already spilled into player protests, with prominent players including Gauff, Aryna Sabalenka and Jannik Sinner restricting media duties at Grand Slam events.

The pressure contributed to the Grand Slams increasing player prize money in 2026 and agreeing to create a Grand Slam players advisory council, which is due to begin after the US Open.

That could give players a greater voice in decisions over how the four majors are run.

So Why Not Simply Move The Night Session Earlier?

That sounds straightforward, but it creates another problem.

US Open organisers have previously argued that starting earlier would make it harder for New Yorkers to attend after work. Moving from 7pm to 6pm, for example, could reduce the number of people able to reach the stadium in time.

Cutting the night session from two matches to one would reduce the scheduling risk, but would also mean fewer paying spectators and potentially less television value.

And the fundamental problem remains: tennis matches have no guaranteed duration.

A match can last 60 minutes or five hours.

That makes tennis fundamentally different from sports where organisers know roughly when an event will end.

Will Tennis' Scheduling Model Change?

There is growing pressure for change, but the financial equation makes a complete overhaul difficult.

If Grand Slams reduce late-night sessions or impose stricter finishing times, broadcasters could potentially place a lower value on the rights. That could eventually affect the amount of revenue available to players.

For now, tennis remains caught between two competing priorities: maximising the enormous commercial value of Grand Slam events and protecting players from increasingly punishing schedules.

The empty seats behind Williams after 2am in New York offered perhaps the clearest illustration of the problem. The night session may make financial sense on paper, but when a marquee match finishes in the early hours, the question becomes whether the model is still serving the fans, the players - or simply the business.