Andy Murray has slammed the scheduling of the US Open and called for changes after the latest finish to a women’s match was recorded.
Zheng Qinwen’s 7-6(2) 4-6 6-2 win over Donna Vekic lasted two hours, 50 minutes and ended at 2.15am local time on Monday.
It beat the previous record for a women’s match at the year’s final Grand Slam by two minutes.
And Murray, whose glistening career came to an end at the Olympics last month, has previously been critical of finishes later into the night and he made his feeling known again on social media.
He posted on X: ‘The tennis scheduling situation is a total mess. It looks so amateurish having matches going on at 2,3 4am Sort it out,’, and tagged all the major tournaments as well as the ATP Tour, the WTA and the International Tennis Federation
Murray has been a victim of late finishes, with his second round Australian Open match against Thanasi Kokkinakis, which lasted five-hours, 45 minutes, ended at 4.05am local time – the third latest finish in the history of the sport at tour level.
In the 2008 Australian Open third round, Lleyton Hewitt’s five-set win against finished at 4.34am.
Alexander Zverev’s victory over Jenson Brooksby at the Abierto Mexico tournament is the latest finish recorded after it concluded at 4.55am in 2022.
Meanwhile, The last-16 match between Qinwen and Vekic was a repeat of the final in the olympics, with the former coming out on top to keep her hopes of winning a first hrand slam alive.
‘It’s always nice to play in the night session because I’m used to it. It’s the first time I’ve played here in New York at two in the morning. It’s unbelievable. Thanks to the fans that aren’t sleeping tonight, supporting me here,’ Qinmen said.
‘She’s really tough to play on hard courts, she put a lot of pressure on me. At Roland Garros I was in control. But today she hit really aggressive. It was tough for me to play against her. It was a really nice victory for me.’
