"US Open must repent for horrid scheduling"; "So unfair" - Fans fume over late-night start to Zheng Qinwen-Donna Vekic match after Frances Tiafoe win

Zheng Qinwen's fourth-round match at the 2024 US Open against Donna Vekic began late at night on Sunday, September 1, at the Arthur Ashe Stadium. Fans were furious with the scheduling as Zheng-Vekic's Paris Olympics final rematch began after Frances Tiafoe's four-set win over Alexei Popyrin.

In the day session on Sunday, Grigor Dimitrov and Andrey Rublev played five sets while Coco Gauff and Emma Navarro played three. These full-length matches caused delays in the night session. Zheng's match, scheduled as the final night session match, began close to 11:30 PM after Tiafoe defeated Popyrin 6-4, 7-6(3), 2-6, 6-3.

Zheng-Vekic also went the distance with the Chinese winning 7-6(2), 4-6, 6-2 in 2 hours and 50 minutes. The fourth round match finished at 2:15 AM on Tuesday and is the record latest finish for a WTA match at the US Open.

Fans took to X to express their discontentment with the scheduling at the New York Major.

"Insanity that the brilliant minds @usopen would put this on after a men’s match. So stupid," one fan wrote.

"Crazy how late this Vekic Zheng match is starting," another fan wrote.

"US Open must repent for its horrid scheduling," a third fan wrote.

Here are some more fan reactions to Zheng-Vekic's late-night start.

"It’s past everyone bedtime, I bet even @WTA is in bed already!" one fan wrote.

"It’s made me viscerally angry every time I’ve seen it scheduled that way at this US Open. It’s so unfair and disrespectful," another fan wrote.

"When will tennis learn that scheduling a best of 3 women’s match on night session after a best of 5 men’s match is a really dumb idea," yet another fan wrote.

Notably, this is the second such instance in three days in New York. Aryna Sabalenka's third-round match against Ekaterina Alexandrova also came under criticism for its late-night finish.

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Aryna Sabalenka vs. Ekaterina Alexandrova's US Open 3R match was the latest start in tournament history

Aryna Sabalenka at 2024 US Open. (Image: Getty)

On Friday, August 30, Aryna Sabalenka's third-round match against Ekaterina Alexandrova at the US Open was placed as the final match of the night session. The WTA match began on Saturday, August 31, eight minutes past midnight after Novak Djokovic's shock defeat against Alexei Popyrin. It was a record late start in US Open history.

The Belarusian lost the first set but recovered well to win the next two sets and advance into the fourth round. Her triumph came at around 2:00 AM on Saturday.

During her post-match on-court interview, she opened up about her reluctance to start the match after midnight.

"I was like ‘no way.. I’m gonna start at midnight'. And that’s actually what happened. That was tricky. We stayed with the team and tried to relax. Right before the match we did our warm up and we hoped for the best,” Aryna Sabalenka said.

The World No. 2, however, revealed she got eight hours of sleep after she slept close to 4:00 AM.