They say the first step to solving a problem is admitting you have one. The USTA isn’t there yet, at least judging by its actions.

For the second time in three nights, a US Open match didn’t start until around midnight in a nearly empty stadium in front of a nearly empty television audience – and this was at a tournament that this year implemented an official late-finish policy to prevent all of these things.

Donna Vekic And Zheng Qinwen were the players this time, replacing Aryna Sabalenka and Ekaterina Alexandrova. But the same series of events occurred:

• long day session
• a delayed start to the game at night
• three-hour match on Arthur Ashe

The organizers then decided to play the fourth match of the day in the same time slot instead of moving it to an open court and starting it a little earlier, after taking into account the pace of play and the length of the sets in the match between Frances Tiafoe and Alexei Popyrin.

Plus “weather conditions, fan accommodation and time considerations.”

The big losers? Vekic and Zheng, who played a repeat of their Olympic final and delivered a spectacular match in front of a modest crowd. It ended at 2:15 a.m. – the latest women’s match in the history of the tournament.