A new time record has been set at the 2026 US Open after Carlos Alcaraz and Ben Shelton played until the early hours of Wednesday morning in New York.
It was a busy day on Arthur Ashe Stadium on Tuesday as the three earlier matches all went the distance as the day started with a two-hour and 22-minute clash between Aryna Sabalenka and Linda Noskova.
Frances Tiafoe-Alex Michelsen then took four hours and 39 minutes to complete their last-eight encounter on the main showpiece court before Jessica Pegula and Emma Navarro battled for two hours and 21 minutes.
It meant the quarter-final between defending champion Alcaraz and eighth seed Shelton only got underway at 23:05 at Flushing Meadows, and by then there were quite a few empty seats inside the stadium.
But the fans who stayed were once again treated to a humdinger of a match that went the distance as the pair slugged it out for more than four hours.
US Open News
Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner held the previous record for the latest-ever finish at the US Open as their 2022 quarter-final encounter went to five sets before the Spaniard won with the encounter finishing at 2:50am.
That record was broken midway through the fifth set as the clock hit 2:51am in New York and they continued to battle past 3am.
Shelton – who was 0-3 in his head-to-head rivalry with Alcaraz before the match – eventually won 6-7 (5-7), 6-1, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (10-7) with the clock at 3:33 with his reward a semi-final clash against Tiafoe on Friday.
So officially, they have the new US Open record with the Alcaraz-Sinner 2:50am encounter now in second place and Alexander Zverev and Tomas Etcheverry’s 2:35am finish from 2024 dropping to third place.
What Is The Grand Slam Record?
Lleyton Hewitt and Marcos Baghdatis hold the record at majors as their 2008 clash at the Australian Open finished at 4:38am at Melbourne Park, while Andy Murray and Thanasi Kokkinakis played until 4:05am in 2023 at the season-opening Grand Slam.
And yet, that is not the overall record in men’s tennis as Zverev and Jenson Brooksby competed until 4:55am during the 2022 Mexican Open in Acapulco.
The other match to finish after 4am was a doubles Davis Cup encounter between the United States and Italy with Jack Sock and Sam Querrey completing their win against Simon Bolleli and Fabio Fognini at 2:04am in 2019.
