The debate surrounding best-of-five set matches hit a crescendo at the US Open, as several men’s matches were played into the early hours of the morning.

Half of the men’s quarterfinals matches went the distance, including Ben Shelton’s epic five-set victory against Carlos Alcaraz on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

The pair played for such a long amount of time that it was after 3:30am when they finally settled who had secured their place in the semifinals of the tournament.

Many complained that the health of the players were being put at risk after Alcaraz and Shelton’s epic, but the Spaniard is still all for long contests.

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“We would be killing the Grand Slam legacy,” said Alcaraz in an interview with Libertad about potentially scrapping best-of-five set matches at Grand Slams.

“We have been playing best-of-five matches at the Grand Slams from the very beginning, and I think that is what makes those tournaments different and special.”

Alcaraz does, however, believe that matches finishing in the early hours of the morning should lead to a rule change from the tennis authorities.

Speaking at this year’s Laver Cup in London, the seven-time Grand Slam champion said: “I think it’s too much. The last match people stayed but if that match was played earlier, the court could have been packed.

“I would like to change the schedule a little with a maximum finish at 11 p.m., or whatever would be better,” added Alcaraz.

That would fall in line with Wimbledon’s current system, which has a curfew of 11pm for all action at the Grand Slam.

It has been proven to work at SW19, but they have not introduced night session tickets either. One ticket gets you into the Grand Slam for the entire day, so that is another aspect that would need to be nixed.

The other three Grand Slams – the Australian Open, Roland Garros, and the US Open – all offer a ‘night session’ ticket, which tends to get two matches starting from around 7pm.

However, if those matches both go five sets, much like Frances Tiafoe vs Alex Michelsen and Alcaraz vs Shelton did at the US Open, then that is when players are forced to play into the early hours of the morning.

With Alcaraz now fully behind the Grand Slams introducing a curfew, it has certainly given the three major tournaments something to think about heading into the 2027 season.

It likely won’t be introduced in time for the Australian Open next January, but something should absolutely should be done by the Grand Slams.