US Open chief Craig Tiley has defended the tournament’s scheduling model amid criticism over increasingly late finishes.
Tiley, the former CEO of Tennis Australia, also insisted that there are no plans to make any changes ahead of the 2027 edition.
This comes after American Ben Shelton’s epic, five-set quarter-final win against defending champion Carlos Alcaraz ended at 3:33am local time on Wednesday in front of a sparse crowd.
The year’s final Grand Slam currently stages two matches during the day and another two in the evening on its biggest courts – Arthur Ashe and Louis Armstrong – but concerns over player welfare have led to that set-up being questioned.
Tiley dismisses criticism
In response to the growing debate around late finishes, Tiley said on Sky Sports: “You can’t control the length of the match.
“What’s really interesting is, in the last 10 years, the amount of tennis from when you hit a point to when a point stops has been about the same.
“But the length of the matches on the men’s side has increased by an average of about 25 minutes.
“That’s because we now have the shot clock, so everyone is taking their time, and we have the towels which takes a bit more time – and so the whole length of it is a bit longer.
“Not that much longer, but in fact the average time of the men’s matches today is still not in the top four average times in the last 10 years.
“While it feels really late, the reality is you’ve got to go and look at the data.”
No changes planned
Asked about the possibility of changing the tournament’s structure to accommodate more daytime matches, Tiley stated: “We really like the two days and two nights.
“Two full sessions and you get a women’s match and a great men’s match – and that’s what our fans are telling us.
“They can come out and see three, four, five hours of entertainment.
“And if it goes really long like the other night, that’s a great sporting ticket, so I will keep it.”
READ MORE: Cricket news: Archer hails addition of ‘legend’ KP to England white-ball set-up
Five-set system remains
The drama at Flushing Meadows has also renewed calls for men’s Grand Slam matches to be cut from best-of-five to best-of-three clashes.
However, Frances Tiafoe, who meets compatriot Shelton in the second semi-final on Friday, disagrees with that idea.
“I think for the men’s, we should stick with three out of five,” he told reporters.
“I don’t know where the conversation is going, what people are leaning to.
“Everyone is going to have an opinion – everyone is different.
“Do I love five-setters? Absolutely not.
“There’s a lot of times where I’m up two sets to love and I’d love to shake hands and go home, but it’s tennis.”
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Championship news: Dion Dublin backs Jamie Vardy to be a hit with Burnley
