'This is about them selling tickets...' - Fans slam US Open organizers for scheduling two matches per night

US Open organizers are firm on their stand of scheduling two matches per night for this year’s edition of the tournament. Meanwhile, a lot of Tennis superstars had complained in the past that the late-night scheduling of the matches results in mental and physical fatigue for them as athletes.

They also demanded quite an improved itinerary for the tournament to cope with all the situations and recover themselves for a major international tournament. Meanwhile, the US Open tournament director Stacey Allaster has also come up with a clarification on scheduling two matches per night in the current structure of the tournament.

“Look, each year after a US Open, we all sit down as a senior leadership team and talk about matters that came up. Without question late-night matches were heavily discussed and reviewed after the 2022 US Open,” said Allaster during a press conference.

“We looked at the start time of the match. Could we start the evening session earlier, instead of 7, start it at 6? We decided that was not really a possibility because it’s hard for New Yorkers to get here by 7. There could be then the collision course within the afternoon,” she added later.

"At the moment we’re staying the course with two matches at night." - US Open director Stacey Allaster

Furthermore, she also spoke about the plans of US Open organizers in the near future and also confirmed there are no early plans to change the schedule.

“At the moment we’re staying the course with two matches at night. We’ll continue to evaluate it. I think until we were to dramatically change a feature that we offer our fans, we’ll experience this late-night moment here,” said Allaster.

“The one thing we do know, in New York City, and we talk to the athletes; there’s nothing like a night match in Arthur Ashe. They are some of the most historic and memorable moments for athletes,” she concluded.

Although this statement from Stacey Allaster and the stance of US Open organizers didn’t go down well with the Tennis fans. They came up with some harsh reactions and remarks on social media, blaming the organizers for just focusing on the money and selling the tickets.

Here’s how fans reacted:

This is not about #USOpen caring about the fans. This is about them selling tickets. I am sure all tennis players want nothing more than to play matches that end at 1 AM. Only in tennis does this happen…..

— Amin Khalaf (@khalaf_amin) August 18, 2023

After a late match in a Slam, players aren't typically on court again for another 36+ hours. They're fine at Slams. At the regular week-in, week-out Tour stops, it's way more of an issue.

— ᒍᕮᖴᖴ ᔕIKᕮᔕ🎾 (@JeffSikes) August 18, 2023

They should look after their health



A massive group of players are pulling out of tournaments



Humanly it should not be matches after midnight.

7pm to 00 thats 5h of tennis per ticket



Enough !!!

— Loli (@LoliLondon) August 18, 2023

Crap answer from Allaster. This is a once a year event. Attendee can make a once a year arrangement to get to a 6:00 start time. Allaster cares about prime time revenue. Not about the fans who have to commute home between 1-2:00 am and not about the players.

— Gray Thompson (@GrayThompson7) August 18, 2023

Tennis doesn’t need to change schedule but it does need to change its time between points, also known as “dead air”



Quick calculations from @AndreyRublev97 vs @EmilRuusuvuori match



Total points 279



Points played 0-4 = 156



With 25 seconds between points = 65 minutes of dead…

— Mark Petchey (@_markpetchey) August 18, 2023

So their priority is whether *fans* can get to a match on time and not whether *players* can get to sleep on time. Oh it's not fair for the fans, it's really hard for the fans, the poor fans.

Zero evaluation of anything that might be fair for the players.

— PhineMotorSkills (@rdmtennisfan) August 18, 2023

So, it's hard for them to get there by 6, but it's not hard for them to get home at 2am?

— Bernie M. (@BM_SC_t) August 18, 2023

Stacey makes some great points. Tough to get it right.

— Tennis Connected (@TennisConnected) August 18, 2023

Don’t think 7 PM start time, matches going 5 sets & ending at 1:00 am, etc is an issue. The concern is 12:00 am, 1:00 start times, ending at 3:00 AM 😑#CincyTennis

— ULTM8SerenaWilliamsf (@ultm8swfans) August 18, 2023

Don’t New Yorkers get annual leave from their jobs? Surely it won’t kill them to book a day off if they have a ticket

— Liverpool Gamer (@liamvalid) August 18, 2023

They can also start earlier and not have 2 sessions. But I get it, it's a money grab, not about players, staff or fans.

— Audra (@AudraABon) August 18, 2023