Martina Navratilova Drops Four-Word Reaction to Late-Night Finishes at US Open

Martina Navratilova urged tournaments to fix the schedule to avoid late-night finishes.

Martina Navratilova Drops Four-Word Reaction to Late-Night Finishes at US Open

Martina Navratilova (Image via Us Weekly)

Martina Navratilova doesn’t shy away from expressing her opinions, no matter how controversial the topic is. At present, the US Open is underway at Flushing Meadows, and since the very first day, there have been matches that finished pretty late at night.

Venus Williams played her first singles match against Sofia Kenin on the first day. The match started past midnight and finished after 2 am.

After her defeat, Navratilova urged the tennis bosses to do something about match scheduling, saying, “Tennis is the only sport that does this; I think it’s crazy.” Navratilova also took to X and wrote, “This is not sustainable…” after coming across journalist Christopher Clarey‘s tweet about the late-night finishes.

Check out their posts here:

Wimbledon remains the only Slam that has an 11 pm curfew. Matches are suspended if they don’t finish before 11 pm. But players also sometimes complain when matches are suspended, thinking it could affect their rhythm.

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Martina Navratilova reacts to Coco Gauff’s win over Cristina Bucsa

Coco Gauff, after knocking out Zeynep Sonmez and Paula Badosa in straight sets, beat Cristina Bucsa in the third 6-3, 6-4 in the third round of the US Open. Although she clinched the win in straight sets, Gauff did struggle during the match, also serving six double faults. After the match, countrywoman Martina Navratilova reacted to her performance.

Coco Gauff
Coco Gauff (Image via The New York Times)

Bucsa, let’s give her credit; she played some good tennis, good all-around tennis. Was attacking, taking time away from Coco [Gauff], and she does not like that. But at the end of the day, Coco’s fighting spirit came through. She looked a lot more stressed; by her own admission, she was a little bit up and down, but still hasn’t lost a set and didn’t have to play a tiebreak to win the set, so I’d probably give her a B- for today, but good enough!

Martina Navratilova said on Sky Sports

Former WTA player from Britain, Laura Robson, however, did not agree with Navratilova’s grading. She said on Sky Sports:

I would probably go with a B. To be honest, I think she can play a lot better than that. I got quite excited by the level we saw in the second round against Paula Badosa, where there was some real heavy-hitting from the back of the court. In some ways, it felt like the fact that Bucsa didn’t have any pace on her serve, Coco was overthinking quite a few of her forehands, and once you get into that lack of rhythm, it’s so hard to get out of it.

Gauff will next be locking horns with compatriot Iva Jovic, who upset Alexandra Eala to reach the fourth round of her home Slam for the first time in her career. The 22-year-old is aiming to win her second title at Flushing Meadows. Back in 2023, she beat Aryna Sabalenka in the US Open final to win her career’s first Grand Slam singles title.

Gauff is also chasing her second title of the season in her home Slam after her triumph in the Cincinnati final over Jessica Pegula. The two-time Grand Slam singles champion will reach her career-best No.1 ranking if she lifts the title and World No.2 Elena Rybakina loses before reaching the semifinals.

World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka is playing as the defending champion and is also chasing a three-peat of this Major. But as she hasn’t reached a final since beating Gauff in Miami, she will lose her ranking to Rybakina, Gauff, or Jessica Pegula if she fails to win the title and the Kazakh ace loses before the semifinals.

Also read: Madison Keys Gives Heartbreaking Reality on her US Open Collapse Against Qinwen Zheng