On Sept. 3, 1987, Gabriela Sabatini defeated Beverly Bowes, 6-3, 6-3, with the match wrapping up at 1:30 a.m.
It was, at the time, the latest-ever finish for a women’s match at the US Open – a record that held until the 2010 US Open, when Samantha Stusur finished off Elena Dementieva at 1:35 a.m. in a fourth-round contest. The current record was set last year, when Madison Keys defeated Alison Riske in a first-round affair concluding at 1:48 a.m.
Afterward, Sabatini was asked if she felt worried about starting her match just after midnight. She replied, “I wasn’t worried when I saw Beverly sleeping in the Players’ Lounge.”
The Argentine would go on to reach the quarterfinals of the US Open that year, kicking off a run of nine consecutive quarterfinal appearances in Flushing Meadows highligted by her lone Grand Slam title in 1990.
