08/31/26 08:00:00
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08/31 05:00 CDT The US Open is getting longer as players already worry tennis
tournaments are becoming too long
The US Open is getting longer as players already worry tennis tournaments are
becoming too long
By BRIAN MAHONEY
AP Sports Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --- The U.S. Open was a week old by the time Aryna Sabalenka and
Carlos Alcaraz opened their title defenses.
What once was a two-week quest for a Grand Slam championship now extends into a
third week, and U.S. Tennis Association CEO Craig Tiley was asked how he hoped
to continue that growth.
"Four weeks," he said with a smile.
Some players might fear he is serious.
They were already becoming wary of an overcrowded schedule that makes it hard
to find many breaks, even before the U.S. Open moved up the beginning of the
singles main draw last year to make it a Sunday start.
"I just hope they will not start on Saturday at some point, you know? And then
on Friday and on Thursday, Tuesday, Wednesday," said Marta Kostyuk, the No. 11
seed from Ukraine. "So I hope this is it."
Kostyuk was one of the winners Sunday, and those players get the benefit of two
days off before their next matches. Sabalenka and Alcaraz started Monday, the
former opening day, and top-seeded Alexander Zverev and 2023 champion Coco
Gauff are scheduled Tuesday on the final day of a first round that until last
year was completed over two days.
"So they're finding ways to extend the tournaments, which I think is tough for
the players," said Canadian Denis Shapovalov.
Leylah Fernandez, the 2021 runner-up in Flushing Meadows, said she would enjoy
the extra day off after her victory Sunday to spend time with her sister, who
is in New York with her.
But Shapovalov, a 2021 Wimbledon semifinalist, argued that an extra day between
matches doesn't mean more time off.
"Being off is when you're at home, able to sleep in your bed and not focus on
tennis, right?" he said. "We're still going to have to come back tomorrow,
practice the next two days. You're still in that match environment, tournament
environment where I'm locked in and I'm not doing things that I would be doing
when I'm off. You know, having a brownie."
The expansion to a three-week event set in last year, when along with starting
singles play on Sunday, the USTA shifted the mixed doubles tournament to a
two-day event on the Tuesday and Wednesday preceding it. That was in hopes that
top singles players would compete, which most of them wouldn't when it was
contested once their priority event began.
Another day was added to that this year with a qualifying tournament that was
held Monday for the final two spots in the 16-team field. With more real
matches beyond the singles qualifying tournaments that take place the week
before, and admission to the grounds free, there were huge crowds for what the
USTA calls "fan week," and organizers clearly want more.
"This will become the tennis Disneyland," Tiley said.
He stressed that doesn't necessarily mean extending the length of the
tournament, but by finding more types of events to do during it.
But extending events is exactly what tennis seems to be doing these days.
It's perhaps felt more at the Masters 1000 level, just below Grand Slams. Those
have swelled to 10 days, so long that players have trouble keeping track of
time. Tommy Paul was noting how well his fellow Americans performed at the
recent ones in Montreal and Cincinnati, reaching the final weekend, when he
caught himself.
"I say weekend. I think the finals in Montreal was, like, Wednesday or
something," Paul said.
Close. Ben Shelton won the title on a Thursday.
Some players point to the obvious, that longer tournaments mean shorter time to
recover before the next event for those who do well. Frances Tiafoe got to the
final in Cincinnati, then had to pull out of the mixed doubles, where he was
supposed to partner with Fernandez, for more rest.
"To be honest, speaking in the locker rooms, I don't think anybody's a fan of
how long the seasons in general are right now, fans of these three-day starts,
fans of the 10-day Masters," Shapovalov said. "You know, I think everything's
just gotten too long."
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