Grab your popcorn and hold on to your seats! The All-American clash between Frances Tiafoe and Ben Shelton is ready to take place at 1:15 PM ET at Arthur Ashe Stadium. And while the timings might not be to many’s liking, this rematch from the 2023 US Open’s quarterfinals is just waiting to be played. And 2x winner of the US Open, Andre Agassi is also excited!

When ESPN posted about the upcoming clash on Instagram with the caption, “A rematch of last year’s US Open quarterfinal. This will be fun 🍿📺 Friday | 1:30 ET on ESPN,” Agassi was one of the first ones to comment with a simple “💪🏼” emoji. In fact, just a few days ago, Agassi was expressing how impressed he was with this generation of American tennis players. For Tiafoe and Shelton in particular, he said, “I believe this generation of players with their assets – [Ben Shelton] is that college spirit that loves that environment and the energy of the crowd…I’m thinking the breakthrough is going to happen somewhere, but most likely, if and when it happens, it’ll happen [at the U.S. Open].”

When Shelton won his round 2 match against Roberto Bautista Agut, he claimed that he actually didn’t know who he was playing next. Shelton had not looked at the draw beforehand, so he told the Grandstand crowd, “You guys made this draw exciting early in the week, huh? I’m really looking forward to it. We had a battle in the quarters here last year. I’m sure it’ll be another popcorn-type match.”

At home, both Shelton and Tiafoe have a good Grand Slam record, even if Shelton’s away record at the majors has been usually limited to a third-round exit. He did reach Wimbledon’s fourth round this year, but he hopes to go even further than the QF at Flushing Meadows this year. Tiafoe, however, will not make it easy.

“Obviously, you know, he’s very much like me in how excited and energetic he is on the court and has such a big game and big shots and serves big and gets the crowd going,” Tiafoe said. “You know, he’s 20, 21 years old. He’s young, funny, cracks jokes. Just about as immature as I am (smiling). We always have fun joking around and cracking jokes, for sure.”

But while this clash is as exciting for the American fans as any top players facing each other across the net, the timing of the game has been surprising. Playing hard on sweaty, steamy days is fine once in a while, but fans wonder why the evening slot didn’t go to Shelton vs. Tiafoe.

Ben Shelton vs. Frances Tiafoe’s midday match timings leave many miffed

Scheduling conflicts are bound to occur when tournaments have to accommodate so many matches in two weeks. Add the weather to that, and it rarely ever leaves everyone happy. While Novak Djokovic has asked for matches to start earlier after his late-night opener, fans feel Djokovic’s constant evening slots should have gone to Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe.

“Putting Shelton-Tiafoe in the day session is a pretty wild choice by the #USOpen for tomorrow’s schedule,” wrote renowned journalist Ben Rothenberg. Another journalist, Jose Moregado also wrote on X, “I’m *shocked* Tiafoe vs. Shelton isn’t the night match on Ashe tomorrow. Wow…”

And they’re not the only ones, the fans have been complaining about it too, as they have to come and sit for the game in the stifling heat. It will be even harder for the athletes, as the US Open has already seen more than a few withdrawals, and heat exhaustion played into the reasons. Will today’s match require a few shirt changes from Shelton and Tiafoe? Well, all we can hope at this point is for the weather forecast to say ‘cloudy’.