At the end of the month, the US Open kicked off the court with off court news of "hot before the game". Players withdrew from the game and refused to participate in the night court schedule | Tennis Open | Players
The last Grand Slam tournament of 2023, the US Open, will begin on August 28th. There is still a week left before the game, but the constant off court news at the US Open has made this tennis tournament "hot before the game".
The first focus of attention is the game between players and the organizing committee regarding the match time.
The duration is too long and the end time is too late, hoping to adjust the game time. The players have united to appeal to the US Open. Many players, including Lebakina, Svatek, and Azarenka, have come forward to publicly express their suggestions and criticisms on the schedule arrangement.
According to the schedule of the US Open, the evening game usually starts at 7 o'clock. Players believe that the start of the game is too late and the end of the second game is almost midnight, which will seriously affect their physical condition because players need sufficient time to rest to ensure their best recovery after the game.
In the quarterfinals of last year's US Open, Spanish superstar Alcaras endured 5 hours and 15 minutes of fierce competition, defeating Sina with a difficult 6-3/6-7-6-7-7-7-5-6-3 victory. The final time of 2:50 am set a record for the latest completion of the tournament to date.
However, US Open tournament director Stacy Arast revealed that after the 2022 US Open, they have thoroughly inspected and evaluated the schedule of late night matches.
"Our senior leadership team all sat down together to discuss the issues that had already arisen. Undoubtedly, the late night games that ended after the 2022 US Open were widely discussed," she said, ultimately concluding that starting the evening matches early would cause inconvenience to the fans who came to watch the matches on-site. She said, "We have studied the start time of the game, can the evening game start early at 6 o'clock? We think this is unlikely because New Yorkers find it difficult to arrive at the venue even at 7 o'clock in the evening."
She said that this year the US Open will adhere to the arrangement of two evening matches. Because there is still a game in the afternoon of the US Open, it may start early and overlap with the afternoon game. "At present, we will arrange two evening matches and continue to evaluate them. Before making significant changes, we will experience the late night viewing together," Alaster said.
Last week, according to the official news of the 2023 US Open, China's Golden Flower Zhang Shuai withdrew from this year's US Open due to injury. And in last year's US Open, Zhang Shuai made it to the round of 16, creating his best singles record in the US Open. Unfortunately, since the beginning of the new season, Zhang Shuai's physical condition and game form have been at a low point, and he has suffered 16 consecutive losses in singles on the tour.
In addition, many players at the US Open have chosen to withdraw from this year's last Grand Slam. Their departure undoubtedly brought some unusual variables to this year's US Open.
The most regrettable thing is the withdrawal of Canadian athlete Shapovalov. As one of the top six highly anticipated players in the US Open, Shapovalov stated in a statement that despite all his efforts for this game, his knee needs more rehabilitation time and he had to regretfully withdraw from the competition. This strong serving player has been working hard due to a knee injury, but currently it seems that he is unable to recover from playing in time. This is undoubtedly a huge blow for him, as he will miss an opportunity to showcase his strength.
In addition to Shapovalov, Spanish player Busta also chose to withdraw from the competition. Busta was once a contender for the quarterfinals of the US Open, but this time he will not be able to participate in this year's competition. He has been absent from games for the past few months due to a serious elbow injury, and there is currently no sign of a comeback. This is undoubtedly a huge blow for Busta, as the US Open is one of his most successful Grand Slam tournaments.
Another male singles player, Opelka, also announced his withdrawal from the US Open. Opelka is a strong serving player who has won four ATP championships in the past few years. However, due to multiple injuries, Opelka will not be able to participate in this year's US Open.
