NEW YORK – “In a real dark night of the soul, it’s always 3 o’clock in the morning.” That’s from F. Scott Fitzgerald, and it came to mind during a changeover and between yawns as Roger Federer battled Juan Monaco.

New York is the city that never sleeps. Nobody wrote it’s the city where it never rains, because Tuesday the U.S. Open Tennis Championships were washed out and there was no play. Well, there was, for 1 hour, 12 minutes.

That’s when Federer continued toying with Monaco. They had started at 11:50 p.m. Monday. They concluded at 1:12 a.m. Tuesday, so technically you can’t say not a shot was hit Tuesday.

You can say sports, not just tennis, are being held at the most absurd hours. The Yankees and Red Sox played a three-game series up at Fenway, which seemed to begin in April and end on Labor Day. Each game went for about four hours and ended around 11:30 p.m, give or take a few 3-2 counts.

Boston’s Dustin Pedroia talked about the “ridiculous’’ length of the games at his home park. And the Yanks’ Mark Teixeira, complaining to Tyler Kepner of the New York Times about the tedious style, said, “It’s not baseball. ... If I was a fan, why would I want to come watch people sitting around and talking back and forth, going to the mound, 2-0 sliders in the dirt? Four-hour games can’t be fun for the fan, either.’’

What is fun for the fan? And does anyone in charge have the least interest in the fan? Or the athlete?

Baseball and tennis certainly are not governed by the clock, so occasionally you’ll have those long night’s journeys into days, such as the Federer-Monaco competition, or a 14-inning ballgame followed up by one the next afternoon. Still, more planning and less television control would benefit everyone.

There seems pride in Open matches which reach the bewitching hour. What are those people doing playing tennis at midnight? What are those people – if a less-than-capacity crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium – doing watching tennis at midnight?

“Midnight,’’ sang Juice Newton, “and I’m waiting for the 12:05 ... "  The rest of us were waiting for another Federer ace.

Roger, still effective at age 30, did blitz Monaco, 6-1, 6-2, 6-0, in less than 90 minutes.

If that had gone as long as the match which preceded it, 3 hours 2 minutes, Caroline Wozniacki, the underachiever, beating Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-7, 7-5, 6-1, the sun would have been coming up.

Four years ago, David Ferrer upset Rafael Nadal, his fellow Spaniard, in a Round of 16 match which ended at 1:51 a.m., apparently the fourth-latest closing time ever. Asked for a pithy summation of the victory, Ferrer offered, “I am very tried.’’

The great tennis writer, and historian, Bud Collins of the Boston Globe, wrote, “Was anybody left to applaud them in the 23,737-seat chasm? Why, yes. Although not the full complement filling the place when the match commenced but a substantial number. Said one New York police officer on duty named Sullivan, “These people are either homeless or insomniacs.’’

You mean there are other kinds?

Federer says he has played later than Monday night/Tuesday morning, once at the Open, once at the tournament in Miami. His preference is for something in the light of day, but he knows he’s an attraction and will be scheduled at what the networks call primetime.

“I had to wait (in the locker room) two hours more than usual,’’ he said. “It is extremely late. Other sports, like golf, start at 8 in the morning. It’s crazy how our schedules change all the time. As tennis players it makes it extremely difficult to be on your A-game every single day.’’

Nadal was an example. Sunday, his match against David Nalbandian began at 11 – in the morning, the first competition that day on Ashe Court. Nadal’s adjustment from late night to morning tennis started poorly, Rafa having his serve broken three times before running off a string of games.

“You have to wake up early, but usually I got to bed very late,’’ said Nadal, sounding like your basic New Yorker. “I tried (Saturday night) to go to bed early, didn’t work.’’

It was during the post-match interview when Nadal’s leg cramped up and in pain he slid under the table on which the microphone sat. Everyone has seen that on video. Not a lot of people, at least in the east, saw Federer-Monaco in the wee small hours.

“If I wanted to come watch,’’ said Federer when asked if he would stay at an event until 1 a.m., “it doesn’t matter what’s happening the next day. I got a ticket, and I would stay until whatever time that is. ... Then again, a lot of people have go to work.’’

Now, isn’t that a novel concept?