The only later match was the 2008 Australian Open third round between Lleyton Hewitt and Marcos Baghdatis, which ended at 4:34 a.m.
Despite their heroic effort, Team USA was eliminated from competition. The revamped format has provided entertaining ties, but not without drawbacks, criticism and extremely delayed matches after long ties.
“That makes big trouble for us, for the players and the people who are coming to the stadium,” Rafael Nadal said. “That makes the thing difficult. For me, that’s the only negative thing.”
On Thursday, organizers pushed up the morning and afternoon sessions by 30 minutes beginning on Friday. The time between the first and second singles matches are now reduced from 20 minutes to 10 minutes, and the doubles match has to start within 30 minutes of the second singles.
The Americans last won the Davis Cup in 2007, and with the loss, they have matched their longest-ever title drought.
