Carlos Alcaraz exits US Open in tournament's latest ever finish
Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz lost to Ben Shelton in five sets, with the match ending at 3:33am, the latest finish in US Open history.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
Carlos Alcaraz's defence of his US Open title ended in the early hours of Thursday morning, as he was beaten by Ben Shelton in a five-set thriller that finished at 3.33am local time, the latest finish in the tournament's history.
The match did not begin until after 11pm, after earlier matches overran. Alcaraz, who had not played a competitive tournament since April, struggled at times but forced a fifth set and a tiebreak, where Shelton held his nerve to seal the biggest win of his career. The match lasted four and a half hours, and cleaners had already begun working inside the stadium during the fifth set.
The late finish raised questions about player welfare and the fan experience. Martina Navratilova, the 18-time Grand Slam singles champion, wrote on X: "This is not OK and it's not normal." She added that "something has got to give."
The US Open and the Australian Open both schedule a men's and a women's match from 7pm, a policy they say is better for working fans. But as one sports correspondent noted, not many working fans can afford to stay after three in the morning.
One fan at the match said: "The city of New York that showed up tonight till 3am. I'm just hoping that my best friend and my sister over there don't have to be at work at 6am in three hours."
The impact on players was also a concern. "I'd be very surprised if he's in bed much before 5am. Once you've done the media commitments, you'll need to do some kind of physio treatment and eat some food before you go to bed. But as much as anything, the pure adrenaline of getting through a five-set match takes a good few hours to kind of come down from," said an expert.
Late finishes have become a theme of this year's US Open, and there are no signs of change. For those who stayed, it was a match to remember.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, mapped by channel. Ordered by how many channels carried each claim.
| Claim | BBC One |
|---|---|
| Alcaraz had not played in a tournament since April. | |
| Ben Shelton closed out the biggest win of his career. | |
| The match finished at 3:33am, the latest finish in US Open history. |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
The BBC's coverage focused on the unprecedented lateness of the finish, the drama of the match, and the resulting concerns about player welfare and fan experience. It highlighted Martina Navratilova's criticism and the scheduling policies of the US Open and Australian Open. The tone was factual but conveyed a sense of astonishment at the hour, and included a fan's comment about the impact on spectators.
- “It was a dramatic and very, very late night at the US Open last night with the defending champion Carlos Alcaraz. Knocked out in the tournament's latest ever finish.”
- “This is not OK and it's not normal.”
- “The city of New York that showed up tonight till 3am. I'm just hoping that my best friend and my sister over there don't have to be at work at 6am in three hours.”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.