A 4-hour and 38-minute battle between Francis Tiafoe and Alex Michelsen raised a lot of questions about the five-set matches. After the Australian Open CEO said that there might be changes in the future, there was a lot of backlash. But a day later, there is some news for tennis purists that will calm them.
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Just a day after panicking all the purists, the Australian Open confirmed, saying, “While innovation is part of the AO’s DNA, five-set tennis is here to stay.”
The Australian Open opened a debate about changing tennis, and the US Open quickly gave everyone reason to listen.
Andrew Abdo said, “Maybe, in the future, the Grand Slams will undergo changes. You know, perhaps we won’t play best of 5 sets from start to finish… We have to keep entertaining the public,” before suggesting that tennis must evolve without losing what makes it special.
His comments came as late finishes kept piling up and fans stayed up early into the morning. And to top it all off came the Alcaraz-Shelton match that was played until 3:33 a.m., turning that discussion into something impossible to ignore.
Ben Shelton and Carlos Alcaraz started their quarterfinal at 11:05 p.m., with everything ending at 3:33 a.m. The 4-hour, 28-minute battle became the latest finish in US Open history.
That last finish also gave Bill Simmons a reason to question whether men’s tennis has become too long.
“I’ve watched tennis my whole life. I’ve played tennis; I love tennis. Tennis matches are too long,” Simmons said.
He then suggested changing sets from 6 games to 5, hoping matches could finish at a decent time. His comments landed after several nights had already pushed the US Open deep into morning.
The numbers from the first 6 night sessions showed why the frustration keeps growing.
Night 1 ended at 2:01 a.m. after Kenin beat Venus Williams in 1 hour, 48 minutes. Night 2 finished at 12:26 a.m., while Night 3 reached 1:55 a.m. after Zverev battled Sonego for 4 hours, 53 minutes. Night 4 ended at 11:15 p.m., but Nights 5 and 6 finished at 2:15 and 2:07 a.m.
Those late nights have now drawn criticism from former players.
“This is not sustainable,” Martina Navratilova wrote after watching many games go beyond 2 a.m.
Boris Becker was even more direct, saying, “That’s simply too late to play tennis… tell me another sport like that?!?”
Their reactions reflected a frustration already felt by players dealing with disrupted sleep and recovery.
The debate now feels less about removing five-set tennis and more about fixing when matches finish. Alcaraz and Shelton showed how special a long match can become, even when the clock becomes uncomfortable. For now, tennis has a clear question: change the format, change the schedule, or find another answer.
Andy Roddick thinks there is no need to change any rule
Andy Roddick is not apologizing for Ben Shelton and Carlos Alcaraz finishing at 3:33 a.m. He says the complaints are understandable, but the problem goes beyond five sets.
“I hear a lot of complaining. I don’t hear a lot of proposed solutions,” Roddick said, defending the scheduling realities behind the latest finish.
The match started at 11:05 p.m., after earlier matches pushed the night session deep into Tuesday night.
That is where Bill Simmons’ proposed format change enters this growing conversation around tennis timing.
Simmons argued, “I don’t want to do anything for 4.5 hours that is supposed to be entertainment.” He suggested changing sets from 6 games to 5 games, hoping shorter matches could make tennis easier to watch.
But Roddick believes changing the format cannot simply solve scheduling problems surrounding night sessions.
Roddick pointed out that the US Open has always embraced night tennis, bringing huge crowds into Arthur Ashe.
“You’ve got to get 25,000 people out of a stadium responsibly, and you’ve got to get 25,000 people in responsibly,” Roddick explained.
If one match runs long, everything after that moves forward too, exactly what happened before Shelton and Alcaraz clash. For Roddick, that risk comes with night sessions, rather than simply coming from best-of-5 tennis.
But Simmons himself provided the strongest argument against making long matches automatically shorter afterward.
While Tiafoe was battling against Michelsen, Simmons wrote, “I’ve carved out the next 3 hours for the 4th and 5th sets.”
That match eventually lasted 4 hours and 38 minutes, with Tiafoe completing his comeback after trailing by 2 sets.
And that is what makes these long games better for tennis. As many complaints as there are, the fans want the thrill. Short games with low quality are something fans will watch less than long games with higher quality.