Rennae Stubbs tells the US Open how to solve its late night controversy after Carlos Alcaraz vs Ben Shelton

Carlos Alcaraz and Ben Shelton were forced to play until the early hours of the morning in their US Open quarter final.

The pair did not enter Arthur Ashe Stadium until after 11pm in New York and an epic five-hour contest ensued as Shelton defeated Alcaraz in five sets just before 4am.

There has been plenty of debate about five-set matches in recent days, with the new head of the Australian Open suggesting they could be scrapped for good.

There has been outcry to the suggestion and the timing of the US Open quarter finals between Alex Michelsen and Frances Tiafoe, as well as Alcaraz and Shelton could not have been timed better.

While they both provided epic entertainment for fans, it is not ideal that players are forced to play for such a long time and at such a late hour.

Rennae Stubbs, who is currently working with Serena Williams as her coach, believes she knows how to shorten matches without scrapping the five-set format.

More US Open news

Speaking on social media shortly following the culmination of Alcaraz and Shelton, she said: “One thing to fix this late night stuff and 5 hour matches is, you ready for it!? If the match goes to the fifth set, we have a 10 point tie-break to decide the match! Come at me!”

This change would be similar to what happens in doubles, as a deciding set is played out in a 10-point tie-break format.

However, it’s hard to see how much of a change Stubbs’ suggestion would actually make.

It was well past 3am before Alcaraz and Shelton headed into their deciding set on Arthur Ashe Stadium, which is far too late for players to play and spectators to watch.

The big change that should have been implemented by the US Open is opening up the other courts for the quarter finals matches.

The Grand Slam opted to play all four quarter finals on Arthur Ashe Stadium and them all going the distance ensured Alcaraz and Shelton were playing into the morning.

The Louis Armstrong Arena, the US Open’s second largest arena at Flushing Meadows, holds 14,000 fans. That’s more than most tennis stadiums around the world and the atmosphere would be just as good.

If they had one men’s match and one women’s match on each of Arthur Ashe and Louis Armstrong, there would be absolutely no need for anyone to play into the early hours of the morning.

While the entertainment is good, there are far too many negatives for both fans and players.