Andy Murray calls tennis scheduling a 'total mess'

Defending US Open champion Coco Gauff said earlier this summer that late finishes are not good for players.

Zheng Qinwen, of China, reacts after defeating Donna Veki, of Croatia, during the fourth round of the U.S. Open. Picture: AP Photo/Adam Hunger

Andy Murray has called the scheduling of the US Open a "total mess" after the latest ever finish of a women's match on Sunday night.

Olympic champion Qinwen Zheng won her gold-medal rematch with Donna Vekic in a war of attrition, finally getting the job done at 2.16am.

It came 48 hours after Aryna Sabalenka's third-round match with Ekaterina Alexandrova became the latest ever women's match to start when it got under way well after midnight.

Murray knows a thing or two about being kept out on court until the early hours, with his second-round Australian Open match against Thanasi Kokkinakis famously ending at 4.05am.

The three-time grand slam champion, who is enjoying the early days of his retirement, posted on X: "The tennis scheduling situation is a total mess. It looks so amateurish having matches going on at 2,3 4am. Sort it out."

Zheng did not seem too perturbed about her late night at the time, saying: "It's always nice to play in the night session because I'm used to it.

"It's the first time I've played here in New York at two in the morning. It's unbelievable. Thanks to the fans that aren't sleeping tonight, supporting me here."

Defending US Open champion Coco Gauff, who lost to Emma Navarro in the fourth round, said earlier this summer that late finishes are not good for players.

"At 3am [you're] probably not going to bed until 5am at the earliest," she said during the French Open.

"I definitely think it's not healthy.

"For the health and safety of the players it would be in the sport's best interest to try to avoid those matches finishing or starting after a certain time."