"Don't think anyone enjoys watching tennis at 1, 2 in the morning" - Indian Wells director Tommy Haas expresses annoyance at match scheduling in US

Tommy Haas (L) and Rennae Stubbs
Tommy Haas (L) and Rennae Stubbs

Indian Wells Tournament director Tommy Haas and former player Rennae Stubbs have raised their voices against the match schedules at tournaments in the United States, especially the US Open.

The inclusion of two night matches in tournaments has often received backlash from players and fans alike. At the 2022 US Open in particular, several fans leveled criticism at matches going late into the night.

Carlos Alcaraz's quarterfinal match against Jannik Sinner, for example, lasted five hours and 15 minutes, concluding at 02:50 AM in the morning.

Haas and Stubbs recently raised concerns about that during The Rennae Stubbs Tennis podcast, opining that late-night matches are unfavorable for both players and fans.

"I don't think anyone of us enjoys watching tennis [at] 1, 2 in the morning and the players don't deserve that either because again in the Grand Slams, they have the opportunity to recover the next day but by the time they get off the court, it'll be 2 in the morning," Haas said.
"With the US Open sometimes, I can't keep my eyes open that late. It's 2 o'clock in the morning and they're still playing," he added.

Haas claimed that such scheduling is unfair on players, who find it hard to cope with changes in their bio rhythms.

"They don't go to sleep 05:30 in the morning. So, even for their rhythm, it's very very tough," he asserted.

Further expanding on Haas' sentiment, Stubbs stated that fans suffer a lot too, considering they have to head to work the next day.

"More importantly, it's the fans that are the ones that are suffering as well as the players because you know, sitting upto 2 in the morning and you have to go to work the next day. I hope that tournaments take that on board and try to start their matches early," Stubbs said.

"Tennis is one of the only sports that has to deal with it" - Tommy Haas on late night match scheduling

Tommy Haas at the 2018 BNP Paribas Open
Tommy Haas at the 2018 BNP Paribas Open

Tommy Haas further lamented that tennis is among the few sports in the world that have to deal with the case of irregular match schedules.

"I don't think it's fair. It's really one of the only sports I can imagine has to do that and deal with it," the German stated.

While admitting that New York fans like to stay up late and have a good time watching the matches at the US Open, Tommy Haas claimed that any game beyond the 1 am mark is exhausting.

"New York crowd is obviously different because they like to stay up a bit later and have a good time. But, I even think, after like 12:30, 01:00, their threshold is sort of taken," he opined.

Fans and players will be hopeful of schedule changes at the upcoming US Open considering the amount of backlash the tournament organizers have received in recent times.