Explained: Why tennis has moved to end late night match finishes

The men’s and women’s tennis bodies - ATP and WTA - announced a joint statement declaring new scheduling rules to curb the number of late-match finishes. Additionally, the tours stated that a strategic review would be done on tennis balls to ensure quality and consistency of equipment from 2025 onwards. The joint statement said “the initiatives are a direct result of player input and aim to boost the tournament experience for both players and fans.” The match scheduling is the more intriguing part of the plans with ATP, WTA Tours finally paying heed to years of players complaining of late finishes. Tennis tournaments had been plagued by matches that dragged on long into the night, and even early morning in some cases. One recent example of an exceptionally long match was last year’s Australian Open second round match between Andy Murray and Thanasi Kokkinakis that lasted over four-and-a-half-hours and concluded at 4 AM local time. What are the new rules around match scheduling? Late night matches are defined as contests that finish after midnight. Tennis has moved to recognise that with average match length increasing, the knockoff effect sees more and more matches finishing late. The new rules state: No more than five matches per day per court (with an 11 am start), with three matches during the day session and two matches during the evening session. No matches to go on court after 11 pm, unless approved by the WTA/ATP supervisor in consultation with WTA/ATP management. Matches not on court by 10:30 pm to be moved to an alternative court – by no later than 11 pm. Night sessions to begin no later than 7:30 pm, with a recommendation for 6:30 pm. However, there are exceptions. “A tournament may request waivers based on local cultural traditions, weather conditions or other extenuating situations, to be considered by WTA/ATP,” says the statement. When do the new rules kick in? The new rules related to match scheduling will be implemented on WTA and ATP events and come into effect immediately (January 2024). However, the rules don’t apply to Grand Slams and team events such as Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup which are all governed by the ITF. The rules are being implemented on a trial basis to apply for 2024. It will be re-assessed for future use. What is leading to late finishes? The biggest reason is that matches are lasting longer. With new-age equipment and sports science, players are fitter and able to sustain on the court for longer. Additionally, the game has evolved into a battle from the baseline which means longer rallies and by extension longer matches. As per ATP Tour data, average length of a men’s Grand Slam match has increased from 2hrs 21min in 1999 to 2hrs 54min this year. That’s an average increase of half an hour per match. This is happening despite all majors introducing final set tiebreaks at 6-6. It is less pronounced on the women’s tour which plays matches in a best of three sets format. WTA data shows that in 2008, the average Grand Slam match lasted 1hr 35min. That figure was up to 1hr 40min in 2023, at an increase of 5.3 per cent.