"You can't have a product that finishes past midnight": US Open 'total utter nonsense' for late finishes as John Lloyd speaks out

Thursday, 17 September 2026 at 04:30

The US Open came under fire once again for the scheduling with players and pundits unhappy about how late matches were finishing.

Most of the night sessions finished past midnight at Flushing Meadows this year with Ben Shelton and Carlos Alcaraz's Quarter-Final finishing several hours later. It was nearly 4am when that finished. Many called it out for being unsustainable for players' health.

John Lloyd has been critical of the tennis schedule and has slammed the US Open for allowing players to be out there so late.

Craig TIley has said that it won't be changing for next year as it provides a good night of entertainment. But whether it is sustainable for the tournament remains to be seen.

Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the Australian Open have similar issues with the schedule proving to be a problem and late finishes. But nothing seems to be done something that Lloyd is annoyed about.

“It’s total utter nonsense. They keep saying, ‘Well, what are we going to do about it?’ There’s only one thing. You can’t have a product that finishes past midnight regularly. You cannot, it cannot work that way,” said Lloyd on the Inside-In Tennis podcast.

“And you can’t start the matches any earlier because you don’t know what the afternoon matches are going to be like. When you’ve got best of five set matches, it’s unpredictable.

“And today’s best of five, it’s only going to get more and more because the physicality of these players, the match is going to go longer and longer and the everyone keeps saying, well, is there a way we can do something?

“Yes, you have a men’s best of three and a women’s best of three case. You can’t put two women’s on because the matches will you won’t have enough matches to go through the second week if you do that. And so, you know, a best of three set men’s and a best of three set women’s.”

Lloyd believes tennis fans would be fine to see one men's and one women's match and doesn't see it as a need to strip back the format for others.

“That’s three hours minimum of tennis. That’s plenty. Why does tennis have to have five or six hours to make people happy? It’s nonsense. It’s total nonsense,” he said.

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“And then the other argument is saying that it separates the men from the boys. Again, that’s nonsense. If that was the case, then the top players wouldn’t be winning the Masters Series.

“And the vast majority of the time when they’re focused, they do win it because the best players will win no matter what. They will come through.”

Samuel GillEditor-in-Chief

Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of TennisUpToDate.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces across the TennisUpToDate network, playing a central role in the daily operation and development of the site.

Based in Leicester, Samuel has a broad background in tennis media. In his current role, he works closely with editors and writers to ensure coverage meets clear journalistic standards, with particular attention to verification, consistency, and timely updates when new information becomes available.

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