A tennis fan from the United States has been torched on social media for suggesting the Australian Open final should be changed to accommodate a US audience.
The curtain fell on the 2026 Australian Open on Sunday night as Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz came back from a first set loss to claim his first trophy down under against veteran Novak Djokovic.
Tennis Australia is trumpeting the 2026 event as the best ever, with the three-week attendance reaching 1,368,043 and a main draw attendance of 1,150,044.
Daily crowds frequently exceeded 100,000, with a record single-day attendance of 103,956 on Thursday of the first week, surpassing previous records.
It also enjoyed record-breaking Australian television ratings, with night sessions peaking at over 2.9 million.
And the 2025 tournament reached a cumulative global audience of 1.91 billion people, with the 2026 event expected to return an even higher reach.
Over 1 billion people worldwide tuned into the Australian Open, including the final won by Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz
The American tennis fan posted this plea to Aussie Open organisers, and was torched in reply
There was plenty of star power in the crowd as well, including Gabriella Brooks and Liam Hemsworth
However one tennis fans in the United States took to social media to complain about having to get up in the middle of the night to watch the final.
‘I know this sounds US-centric but they really should have figured out a way to play this epic final match not at 330am EST,’ he posted.
‘US audience – and all those extra ad dollars – totally shot. I love tennis but I love my beauty sleep even more.’
He was immediately flamed by Aussie tennis fans, with one sharing his post and delivering a very blunt response.
‘This tournament is called the Australian Open. That is because it is played in Australia in Australian time. Australia is about one-third of the Earth’s circumference west of the USA,’ the Aussie posted.
‘There is another tournament later in the year called the US Open. That tournament is played in the USA, played in USA times.
‘That makes each day of the event start in the middle of the night in Australia; but it’s an American event and played at times that suit Americans. Hope this helps. ‘
His post was liked and commented on by hundreds of fellow Aussies who were stunned at the US tennis fan’s request.
The Australian Open was a huge success and included an epic script that saw veteran Novak Djokovic reach the final in a bid to claim a record 11th title at Melbourne Park
The absence of American tennis fans that were sleeping did little to dull the success of the Australian Open
‘Thank you Michael for your attention to this matter, hopefully our American friend learned a thing or two,’ commented one.
Another said: ‘Same ol’ ‘muricans… think the world revolves around them’.
‘The world doesn’t revolve around the USA,’ posted another.
‘Has this American not figured out how to press record and watch it later. I guess he will be missing a lot of the Olympics, as Italy is also in a different time zone,’ lamented yet another.
However others pointed out that the other Grand Slams have their finals in the afternoon, not at night.
Aussies were quick to point out that it would not be ideal to play the final in a heatwave in the middle of summer during the daylight hours.
‘Probably because it’s quite hot in the afternoon in January in Australia,’ one suggested.
Another quite bluntly posted: ‘Because Australia is f***ing hot’.
‘The evenings are cooler and safer to play in.’
Other Aussie tennis fans pointed out that while the timing might not be great for the United States, it was perfect for Asia and Europe.
‘You do realise there are over a few billion people north of Australia in the same time zone but different hemisphere? Maybe they want to watch it?’ suggested one Aussie fan.
‘It’s wild to me that Americans seem to have no concept of timezones,’ posted another.
