NEW YORK — Alexander Zverev wasn’t in the mood for much conversation.
With empty seats everywhere after he finished his U.S. Open first-round match in the early morning hours, he took two questions from reporters on the court and quickly wrapped it up.
“I think everybody’s tired,” he said. “Everybody wants to go to sleep.”
The city that never sleeps is going a little overboard this year.
Players have long loved the electricity of night matches at the U.S. Open, where tennis under the lights at Arthur Ashe Stadium is a hallmark of the American Grand Slam tournament, with fans staying late and bringing plenty of energy. But with the tournament this year already setting a record with three post-2 a.m. finishes over the first six days, plus two more going past 1 a.m., concerns are bubbling up about how much after midnight is too much on such a big stage.
“I know they’re dealing with a lot of different aspects as far as broadcast and TV and making sure certain matches get done and are starting at a certain time for those reasons,” third-ranked women’s player Jessica Pegula said. ”But you have to wonder if it’s really the right thing for players to be finishing at 2 a.m., especially when it’s not — like, I’m not watching on TV. I’m sleeping. Some people stay, but there is a lot of people that need to go home.”
Wimbledon instituted an 11 p.m. curfew. The French Open schedules just one match a night. The U.S. Open is famous for going late, though this time maybe to an extreme.
On opening night, Venus Williams was subjected to the latest start in U.S. Open history at 12:13 a.m., after it took 4 hours, 36 minutes for Novak Djokovic to get knocked out in the first round.
Much of the crowd stuck around to see what could wind up being the 46-year-old’s final Grand Slam singles match, a loss to Sofia Kenin, but the timing itself was a challenge.
“It’s not ideal,” Williams said. “I would have preferred something else, definitely. It wasn’t great for either of us, so I think we both tried our best. I just don’t know any other sport where you have to start that late. I definitely think there’s room for improvement there.”
Zverev’s first two matches ended at 1:55 and 2:15 a.m., making him the first top-seeded man to play back-to-back five-set matches to start a major in the Open era, which dates to 1968. Ben Shelton’s second-rounder that started Friday night went until 2:07 a.m. Saturday thanks to the Williams sisters’ doubles match lasting more than three hours.
Four of the latest 17 finishes in tournament history have occurred this year. The record is still 2:50 a.m. from when Carlos Alcaraz beat Jannik Sinner in the quarterfinals in 2022 on the way to his first U.S. Open title.
“Not easy,” Shelton said after defeating Denis Shapovalov in 3 hours, 22 minutes. “My first time experiencing playing this late.”
Shelton figured the earliest he’d get to sleep was 5 a.m.
Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka, who two years ago played what is now the fourth-latest women’s match, is not a fan of playing after midnight.
“When you finish late, the next day shifts a lot,” Sabalenka said. “Like, you still need to get your hours of sleep, so you start later. You just can really mess up your schedule.”
Sunday results: Sabalenka overpowered Taylor Townsend on Sunday to reach the quarterfinals.
Townsend broke Sabalenka three times in the two-time defending champion’s first four service games as she looked to spring the upset. Sabalenka found a groove, regained her confidence and won 6-4, 6-3.
This was the first meeting between Sabalenka and Townsend, who gave her opponent fits in the first set but struggled to find her own rhythm. Sabalenka next faces either Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova or Marta Kostyuk for a spot in the semifinals.
Alcaraz on the move: Playing his first tournament following a four-month absence because of a wrist injury, men’s second-seeded Alcaraz looks to take his next step toward defending his title when he faces No. 20 Tommy Paul in the second match at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Alcaraz is on a 17-match Grand Slam winning streak and has dropped just one set through three rounds at the U.S. Open. He is 12-0 against U.S. men at majors.
American runs: Townsend and Paul were among the 10 Americans to reach the men’s and women’s round of 16. That is the most in the fourth round at any Grand Slam in nearly a quarter-century, dating to the 2002 U.S. Open, when there were 11.
The five U.S. men — Paul, Shelton, Learner Tien, Frances Tiafoe and Alex Michelsen — are the most at a major since eight in 1995 at Flushing Meadows.
Tien played into early Sunday to beat Jakub Mensik in a five-set gem between a pair of emerging stars. At 20, Tien is the youngest American man in the U.S. Open fourth round since Andy Roddick in 2002.
Shelton, the No. 8 seed, was set to face Stefanos Tsitsipas on Sunday night at Ashe, followed by fellow American Emma Navarro against Anna Kalinskaya.
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