Aryna Sabalenka might have to get used to playing on a different day.
Aryna Sabalenka is now the two-time defending champion at the Australian Open. She is only 25 years old so she could very well challenge for the title in Melbourne for the next seven years or longer. There is a chance, however, that if she does make the final she will be playing on a different day than she is used to.
That is because the organizers of the Australian Open are considering making a huge change to their schedule. Instead of the men’s final being played on Sundays, the women’s final, normally played on Saturdays, would flip with the men’s final. This would mean Sabalenka plays on Sunday as well, of course.
The change is extremely unlikely to happen as soon as 2025 as organizers are still debating whether to make the move or not. They do have a good reason for making the change, however. The reason is that men’s matches are best-of-five sets and as the men’s final begins at 7:30 pm in Melbourne, matches might not finish until midnight.
Aryna Sabalenka might have to win the Australian Open on a different day
Meanwhile, women’s matches are best-of-three sets. If there is a change to Sundays for the women’s final, the time would likely stay the same as the men’s final. But if the match begins at 7:30 pm, the final would probably be done by 10:30 pm.
The reason this is important is that Monday is a work day. Many viewers might simply turn the men’s final off before it’s done because people have to get up to go to work the next day. That is less likely to happen with a women’s final since the match would end earlier.
The men’s final would then move to Saturdays, though it is not yet clear if the men’s final would move to a night match because the women’s finals have been played during the afternoon. My guess is the men’s final would go to nights on Saturdays. This would be better sponsor money as the match would be on primetime in Australia.
The move is not sure to be done, but the fact the change is being debated at all means there is a good chance Aryna Sabalenka will soon be winning the Australian Open on Sundays. That just means tennis fans in the United States will need to get up earlier.
