The US Open has confirmed they will not be implementing a curfew at this year’s tournament but has agreed to relax their policy on match scheduling.
In recent years there have been concerns raised about matches going into the early hours of the morning and the impact it has on players. During the 2022 tournament, Carlos Alcaraz’s quarter-final clash with Jannik Sinner didn’t end until 2:50 am. 12 months later Sinner was involved in another late-night encounter when his match against Alexander Zverev going on until 1:39 am.
Arthur Ashe’s evening session doesn’t begin until 19:00 local time and it will be the same for this year’s tournament. However, the USTA has confirmed that the tournament referee will be given more flexibility in their decisions to move matches to other courts if they have not started by 11:15 pm. As long as they can do so.
“In the event that we have the second match of the evening on Ashe or the last match on Armstrong, if those matches have not gone on by 11:15 p.m., the referee will have the discretion to move the match,” Tennis Now quoted tournament director Stacey Allaster as saying during a Zoom call earlier this week. “That’s going to depend on many variables, like do we have the broadcast team ready, do we have a ball crew, so forth. But we’re defining that it’s a possibility.
“The athletes will know that in the event that we do get to that position, then the referee will make that decision.”
In January, the ATP and WTA introduced new measures aimed at stopping matches from running after 11 pm unless they have been approved by the tournament supervisor. Under their recommendations, night sessions should begin no later than 7:30 pm and ideally an hour earlier. However, these guidelines can’t be enforced at the Grand Slams as they have their own governing bodies.
Besides the schedule, changes have also been made to the roof policy which will enable the tournament referee to have more freedom about when to close it or not.
“We’ve now made it a policy so the athletes will know when the roof will and will not open and close,” said Allaster.“Depending upon the extreme heat, the referee will have the ability to close the roof, partially shade the court before the match or at the end of a set. The roof will only be closed in the threat of inclement weather or if it’s raining.”
The US Open will begin on August 26th. Novak Djokovic and Coco Gauff are the defending champions.
