Venus Williams admits to ‘not ideal’ US Open scheduling as Grand Slam debate rages on
Venus Williams admits that her late-night start against fellow American Sofia Kenin was “not ideal”, as debate springs up over the US Open’s scheduling.
The 46-year-old lost her 15th singles match in a row as she was beaten 6-2 7-6 (6) by 2020 Australian Open champion Kenin in round one at Flushing Meadows.
The compatriots didn’t begin the match until 12:13am local time in New York, as it followed Mariano Navone’s five-set, four-hour victory over Novak Djokovic on Arthur Ashe on Sunday night.
By the time the final ball was struck in the women’s singles game, the clock had struck 2am on Monday morning. This was the latest starting match in US Open history. When the two players embraced at the net, there were barely 1,000 fans left in the 23,933-seater stadium.
When asked about the midnight start, Venus told reporters after the match, “It’s not ideal. I would have preferred something else, definitely. I think it wasn’t great for either of us, so I think we both tried our best.
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“I just don’t know any other sport where you have to start that late. I definitely think there’s room for improvement there. I just kept pushing myself to try to find my best tennis and to find my rhythm. It’s not easy to do in the first round. It’s not easy to do it at 1am or 2am in the morning.”
Despite that, the veteran and seven-time major winner was hugely appreciative of those who made the effort to come and see her play.
The two-time US Open winner, “The crowd was really enthusiastic. I had never played a match that late before, and I was happy to see that so many people stayed. It was a real honour to play in front of them.”
Other than Wimbledon, the other three majors all have day and night sessions. At the US Open, one men’s match and one women’s match has to be played from 7pm. This is partly to accommodate people who finish work for the day and then head over to Flushing Meadows.
According to BBC Sport, this is also so organisers can ‘make more money’, as they can sell twice as many tickets – one for the day session and one for the night. The latter tend to be more expensive and the night session package makes TV rights ‘much more lucrative’.
Indeed, ESPN – who can charge higher prices for its TV advertising slots during ‘primetime’ hours – make £126million per year from broadcasting the US Open as part of a deal until 2037.
On the Venus contest, prominent tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg pointed out that the Kenin encounter set a new record for the latest ever US Open match, surpassing the 12:08am start for Aryna Sabalenka versus Ekaterina Alexandrova in 2024.
He described this turn of events as “dysfunctional”. Incidentally, this could happen again for Venus as she prepares to play with sister Serena in the women’s doubles.
On the flip side, many tennis fans love the late-night finishes, the feral-like atmosphere, and the New York way. But for the players, a scheduling change may need to be implemented.
