Carlos Alcaraz Frustrated by 3:30 a.m. US Open Finish: 'Too Much'

During a press conference in London, Carlos Alcaraz expressed his dissatisfaction with the timing of his recent US Open quarterfinal match against Ben Shelton. The contest stretched into the early hours, wrapping up at 3:33 a.m., setting a new record for the latest finish in US Open history.

This marathon encounter surpassed the previous late finish of 2:50 a.m., which was also set by Alcaraz alongside Jannik Sinner in 2022. The grueling end time meant players left the court close to 4:30 a.m., then returned to their hotels, delaying sleep until around 6:30 or 7 a.m.

"For an athlete finishing at 3:30 in the morning, it means we had to leave the courts at 4:30, then back to the hotel," Alcaraz said, according to Front Office Sports. "You don’t go to bed until 6:30 or 7 in the morning. To recover for the next match, the person you play has an advantage."

The match itself was thrilling, extending to five sets and ending with Shelton upsetting the former World No. 1. The delay was partly due to earlier matches running late, pushing the quarterfinal start to about 8:20 p.m., more than an hour later than planned.

"It is a shame a match like this didn’t reach a lot of people because they have to go to bed, they have to work in the morning," Alcaraz added. "If that match had started at 7 or 8 p.m., at the maximum finishing at 11, the stadium would have been packed. A lot had to miss it because of the schedule."

Despite the late hour, ESPN drew an average of 1.3 million viewers for the match. Meanwhile, USTA director Craig Tiley defended the scheduling decisions earlier this month when speaking to Sky Sports.

"I hear from a lot of people that it finishes too late and then I say, OK, and your suggestion is? I don’t get anything," he said. "You can’t control the length of the match."