Greg Rusedski calls for rule change after what happened to Alexander Zverev at US Open
A former world No 4 has urged tennis chiefs to find a solution to a problem “no other sport in the world” has after Alexander Zverev’s latest win at the 2026 US Open.
Zverev‘s 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-7(3), 6-3 second round victory against Quentin Halys in Arthur Ashe Stadium lasted four hours and 33 minutes — and it finished at 2:15am on Friday morning.
The top seed also won a marathon five-set opening round match against Lorenzo Sonego, which finished at 1:55am.
Sofia Kenin’s first round win against Venus Williams started at 12:13am — setting the record for the latest start in US Open history — and it concluded just before 2am.
Speaking on his Off Court With Greg Rusedski podcast after Zverev’s second round win, Rusedski weighed in on the debate over late-night finishes at the US Open.
“Well, I think you need to find some sort of solution,” said the 1997 US Open finalist.
“The conundrum you have is, do you have one match from eight o’clock, or one match from seven o’clock?
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“When you have a men’s and a women’s match, whichever starts first, somebody’s going past midnight usually — if you get a three set match in the women’s, or if you get a five set match in the men’s.
“And I think it’s brutal because there’s no time limit and that’s where we need to find the balance.
“But then, what do the tournament do? If you get an injury in the opening match, how do you sell your ticket? So it’s either you say, okay, we’re going to put on one three out of five set match men’s, followed by doubles, or two ladies for the evening sessions.
“And that’s how we get away from those late finishes. And we say the start is at 7:30pm, so even if it goes five hours, you’re finishing, at the latest, at 12:30.
“But also, you got to remember this is a global sport. So, for some people 2am in the morning is their local time in their country for like the evening sessions.
“So, it’s really tricky for the tournaments, but I think there has to be a solution, because we shouldn’t have athletes playing that late in the evening. There’s no other sport in the world that does it.”
Rusedski’s comments come after tennis legend Martina Navratilova criticised the night session schedule at the US Open following the Kenin-Williams match.
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