The US Open risks losing a generation of fans by going head-to-head with the NFL

For tennis fans in North America the symbolic - and literal - end of summer (and of the tennis calendar for all practical purposes) is demarcated by the conclusion of the Sunday evening men’s final at Arthur Ashe stadium. The championship match has always commenced in late afternoon sunlight (when the roof isn’t needed) with shadows soon enveloping the stadium before darkness sets in and the lights are turned on as the match reaches its conclusion. Spectators often start the match wearing a T-shirt and end the evening reaching for a jacket as the early autumn chill autumn makes its unwelcome intrusion, heralding summer’s end.