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Tom Hamilton, Senior WriterSep 2, 2024, 06:04 AM ET
- • Joined ESPN in 2011
• Covered two Olympics, a pair of Rugby World Cups and two British & Irish Lions tours
• Previously rugby editor, and became senior writer in 2018
Andy Murray retired from professsional tennis this summer. Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
Andy Murray has described tennis’ scheduling as “amateurish” and a “total mess” after more games finished in the early hours of the morning.
Qinwen Zheng‘s fourth round win over Donna Vekic finished at 2.15 a.m. local on Monday at the US Open. Alexander Zverev’s third round triumph over Tomas Martin Etcheverry went four sets and ended at 2.35 a.m. That time was just 15 minutes short of the latest finish at the US Open which is a record held by Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner when their quarterfinal in 2022 finished at 2.50 a.m.
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Murray has retired from tennis after a brilliant career which saw him win three Grand Slam singles titles. But he has been a frequent critic of tennis’ scheduling, with matches at Slams sometimes stretching long into the night. Players have spoken about the detrimental effect these late finishes have on their own welfare and recovery, and Murray took to social media to express his own opinion.
He wrote: “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 in all the major tournaments as well as the ATP Tour, the WTA and the International Tennis Federation.
Murray has been victim of these late finishes before. His second round Australian Open match against Thanasi Kokkinakis went five sets, lasted five-hours, 45 minutes and finished at 4.05 a.m. local — the third latest finish in the history of the sport at tour level.
Lleyton Hewitt’s five-set win against Marcos Baghdatis finished at 4.34 a.m. in the third round of the 2008 Australian Open, while Alexander Zverev’s victory over Jenson Brooksby at the Abierto Mexico tournament concluded at 4.55 a.m. in 2022.
