McManus listed two options for the men — semifinals on Friday and final on Sunday, or semifinals on Saturday and final on Monday night — with the women’s finalists also getting a day off between matches, playing on Thursday and Saturday or on Friday and Sunday.

Many fans do not care if the men or the women have to play back-to-back — not at the money the players make. But the game has become more physical because of the players’ increased size and conditioning and the upgrade in firepower of the rackets. Contemporary tennis is more demanding on the players’ bodies.

The wonder is that the players piped up at all. They know that Saturday and Sunday are the best days for CBS, which has been showing this tournament since 1968. The three other Grand Slam tournaments, two with roofs over their main courts and the French Open with a roof in the planning stage, have long separated the semifinals and the finals, but the Open has stayed with a model of women’s semifinals on Friday and final on Saturday, and men’s semifinals on Saturday and final on Sunday.

“Super Saturday has provided the greatest platform for tennis,” Chris Widmaier, a spokesman for the United States Tennis Association, said last week.

“We recognize that the physicality of the game has changed,” he said. “We will provide a day of rest.”