Martina Navratilova has stepped into the debate over the US Open’s late-night scheduling after Ben Shelton’s dramatic win over Carlos Alcaraz ended deep into Wednesday morning.

Shelton defeated Alcaraz 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6(7) in a quarter-final that lasted four hours and 28 minutes. The American, 23, has now reached his second semi-final at the New York Grand Slam and will meet Frances Tiafoe on Friday.

The contest began after 11pm on Tuesday and finished at 3:33am on Wednesday, making it the latest finish in US Open history. For Navratilova, that was another sign that the tournament has pushed the schedule too far.

In response to a tweet from tennis writer Christopher Clarey about the night-session setup, the 18-time Grand Slam singles champion wrote: “Something has got to give… this is not ok and it is not normal … no other sport might start at 11 AM or 11 PM. In the same event,”

The Shelton-Alcaraz match was not the only one at this year’s event to run into the early hours. Alexander Zverev’s five-set victories in the first and second round finished at 1:55am and 2:15am.

The women’s event has also produced extreme start times. Sofia Kenin’s opening-round win over Venus Williams began at 12:13am, setting a US Open record for the latest match start time, and ended just before 2am.

Navratilova expanded on her concerns after the Kenin-Williams match while speaking on Sky Sports. “It was the latest start for a women’s match ever. After midnight, and it could have been later. Tennis is the only sport that does this. I think it’s crazy,” said the former world No 1.

She added: “I think they need to fix the night session. It’s too late. I think they should play men’s singles and then maybe a doubles match. If you do women’s singles you can still have another doubles match, or another women’s singles. You’ll see get four sets of play minimum.

“Even if you put the women’s match on first and it’s three sets, the guys start by 10pm. If a men’s match goes five sets, you start at midnight.

“You’re never on the court at midnight and you never start a match at midnight, so it’s counterproductive for everybody, spectators and the players.”

A former Italian player and respected television voice has launched a sharp critique of the US Open after Ben Shelton and Carlos Alcaraz finished their quarter-final clash deep into the early hours at Flushing Meadows.

Shelton beat Alcaraz in a fifth-set tiebreak in a headline match on Arthur Ashe Stadium at the 2026 US Open. The contest did not begin until after 11pm on Tuesday in New York, and the four-hour-and-28-minute battle ended at 3:33am on Wednesday.

That makes it the latest finish in US Open history, surpassing the previous mark set by Alcaraz’s five-set quarter-final win over Jannik Sinner in 2022, which ended at 2:50am.

Paolo Bertolucci, a former world No 12 and a commentator for Sky in Italy, reacted with a series of posts on X/Twitter and did not hold back in his assessment of the scheduling.

“They’ve decided to kill tennis,” wrote Bertolucci, who won six ATP Tour singles titles.

“Over four hours of a match that ends at 3:30 in the morning. Then they despair over absences due to injuries. Shame!!!

“Asking an athlete to perform at 3 a.m. means pursuing a diabolical plan designed to destroy tennis.

“One year without [Holger] Rune and [Jack] Draper. Months in the stands for Alcaraz, [Lorenzo] Musetti, and [Jannik] Sinner. Please, keep it up like this….”

The Shelton-Alcaraz match was not the only late one at this year’s event. Alexander Zverev also went well past midnight in back-to-back five-set wins in the first and second rounds, finishing at 1:55am and 2:15am.

Sofia Kenin’s opening-round victory over Venus Williams began at 12:13am, which set a US Open record for the latest start, and it finished just before 2am.

After Zverev’s second-round win, Greg Rusedski also called for a solution to the problem.

“Well, I think you need to find some sort of solution,” said the 1997 US Open finalist.

“The conundrum you have is, do you have one match from eight o’clock, or one match from seven o’clock?

“When you have a men’s and a women’s match, whichever starts first, somebody’s going past midnight usually — if you get a three set match in the women’s, or if you get a five set match in the men’s.

“And I think it’s brutal because there’s no time limit, and that’s where we need to find the balance.”

Rusedski added: “It’s really tricky for the tournaments, but I think there has to be a solution, because we shouldn’t have athletes playing that late in the evening. There’s no other sport in the world that does it.”

The search for a man to successfully defend the US Open title for the first time since 2008 goes on after Carlos Alcaraz was knocked out in the quarter-finals of the 2026 tournament.

Alcaraz arrived in New York as the defending champion after beating Jannik Sinner in four sets in last year’s final to claim his second trophy at Flushing Meadows. He had hoped to become the first man since 2008 to retain the crown, and his early progress suggested he was capable of doing so. After four smooth victories, plenty of observers backed the Spaniard to go deep, even with the obvious question mark over his preparation following a four-month absence from the ATP Tour because of a wrist injury.

In the end, Alcaraz was pushed to the limit by Ben Shelton in a late-night contest that became one of the defining matches of the event. The American prevailed 6-7 (5-7), 6-1, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (10-7), with the match ending at 3:33am on Wednesday in New York.

The result means the long run without a repeat men’s champion at Flushing Meadows continues. Roger Federer remains the last man to defend the title successfully in 2008.

Federer won five straight titles in New York from 2004 to 2008 and then fell short in 2009, when he was denied in the final by Juan Martin del Potro, who captured his only Grand Slam title with a 3–6, 7–6 (7–5), 4–6, 7–6 (7–4), 6–2 victory.

Since then, every champion has failed to go back-to-back. Alcaraz’s defeat in 2026 simply adds another chapter to that pattern, with a new winner now certain to emerge in New York.