Andy Murray criticizes amateur tennis scheduling at Grand Slams

Andy Murray described the tennis schedule as “amateurish” and a “total shambles” after matches continued to be completed in the early hours of the morning.

Qinwen Zheng’s fourth-round win over Donna Vekic ended at 2:15 a.m. local time on Monday at the US Open. Alexander Zverev’s third-round triumph over Tomas Martin Etcheverry went four sets and ended in 2:35 a.m. That time was just 15 minutes shy of the latest finish at the US Open, a record held by Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner when their 2022 quarterfinal ended in 2:50 a.m.

Murray has retired from tennis after a brilliant career that saw him win three Grand Slam singles titles. But he has been a frequent critic of tennis’ scheduling, with matches at Slams sometimes lasting late into the night. Players have spoken out about the detrimental effect these late finishes have on their own wellbeing and recovery, and Murray took to social media to voice his own views.

He wrote: “The tennis schedules are a total mess. It looks so amateurish that matches start at 2,3, 4 in the morning. Sort it out,” and tagged all the major tournaments, as well as the ATP Tour, the WTA and the International Tennis Federation.

Murray has been a victim of such late finishes before. His second-round Australian Open match against Thanasi Kokkinakis lasted five sets, five hours and 45 minutes, ending at 4:05 a.m. local time — the third-latest finish in the sport’s history at tour level.

Lleyton Hewitt’s five-set victory over Marcos Baghdatis ended at 4:34 a.m. in the third round of the 2008 Australian Open, while Alexander Zverev’s victory over Jenson Brooksby at the Abierto Mexico tournament ended at 4:55 a.m. in 2022.