Wake Up, the U.S. Open is On

The organizers of the U.S. Open enjoy their night matches because it supposedly draws better TV ratings, allows more of a crowd to show up after work, and brings a bit of style to the tournament with tennis being played under the lights. The only problem (and it's a big one) is that a lot of those same TV viewers and in-person crowd members aren't around for the last match of the night (morning?).

I must admit, I'm part of the problem.

People like me continue to convince the organizers that late night tennis is a good idea because people can afford to stay up and watch the matches shake out. Never mind the fact that I have nobody to call at 1:45 in the morning when the final match has concluded. Apparently, there are enough people who watch like I do, because the schedules remain the same year after year. Don't get me wrong, I like night tennis, and I think it brings a certain glitz to such a major event. However, making the matches begin earlier wouldn't be such a bad idea.

Think about it, you can have a match with a 9 pm start time that will reasonably get over at 12 am at the latest. Yes, some marathon matches will go longer, but the average match tops out at 3 hours. For instance, if you want Andy Roddick's match to come behind Serena Williams's match for TV ratings, start Serena at 7 pm on Court 2 and then start Roddick on Ashe Stadium court at 9 pm. There may be a drop-off in attendance at one of the matches since they could overlap one another, but people aren't exactly coming out in droves at 1 am, either.

Andy Roddick's match last night (Monday) began a little after 11 pm. That's ludicrous. Thank goodness he absolutely dumptrucked Bjorn Phau or else I would have gotten to bed even later than the 1 am or so I finally did. If one of the men's later round matches begins at 11ish, there's a very good chance that it'll run well past 1 am, which is entirely too late for TV viewers and crowd members alike. Think about the crowd that could watch Serena (in the above example) and then head over to watch Roddick afterwards. Both matches seen by more crowd members and TV audiences due to a slight adjustment in time.

I got a text message from Big Brother earlier telling me that he really enjoys the night tennis matches. I agree. They're phenomenal. However, 'night' can be done at 9 pm just as easily as 12 am. As long as it's dark, the match is going to look sexy to the TV audience. If you keep STARTING the matches later than most people's bedtime, you're doing nothing but keeping an audience from a great event.

In that case, what am I supposed to talk about with my co-workers the next day if most of them went to bed before the match even began?

~~Lank