Why Venus Williams was let to start her US Open match after midnight, making unwanted history
Venus Williams made some unexpected history at the US Open when her first-round match against Sofia Kenin didn’t start until after midnight. The two-time US Open champ lost in straight sets, 6-2, 7-6, to the 27-year-old. Now, she’ll focus on the doubles tournament, teaming up with her sister Serena.
It’s been a tough year for Williams, with a record of 0-12 in 2026 and 1-15 since last summer. She’s had to rely on wild cards to join many events because of her ranking. Losing to Kenin wasn’t a huge surprise, but the really late start time of the match got a lot of attention.
Williams and Kenin didn’t begin playing until 12:13am ET, making it the latest start ever for a women’s match at the US Open. Their match finished at 2:01am, which is even later than any other first-round match in Grand Slam history.
Venus wasn’t happy with the timing and said starting so late made it hard to get ready. “It wasn’t ideal,” she said. “I definitely would have preferred something else. I think it wasn’t good for either of us, so we both tried our best. I don’t know of any other sport where you have to start so late. I definitely think there’s room for improvement.”
So why did the match start so late? Unlike Wimbledon, which has an 11pm curfew that stops matches and finishes them the next day, the US Open doesn’t have a similar rule. The night session usually has two matches on the same court—one men’s and one women’s. If the first match runs long, the second one gets pushed back.
That’s exactly what happened here. Novak Djokovic’s first-round match went on for more than four and a half hours. He ended up losing in a big surprise, but the long match delayed Venus and Sofia’s game deep into the night. Since the US Open doesn’t stop play because of curfew, they were able to start their match after midnight.
Late finishes like this have upset players before, and now Venus is speaking up about the need for change. Being 46 years old and having to get ready for such a big singles match so late is very unusual. She finished the match after 2am and wondered why tennis lets players compete this late.
“I don’t know of any other sport where you have to start so late,” she said again. “I definitely think there’s room for improvement.”
Now, Venus will put her energy into the doubles tournament with Serena as her US Open adventure continues.