Several tennis players have offered their views on the women’s matches being conducted in the best-of-five sets starting with the quarterfinal matches at the Grand Slam events. So far, women’s tennis has been composed of best-of-three set matches in Grand Slams, while the men’s have best-of-five.
The best-of-five that was limited to the men’s will now be followed in the women’s events as USTA CEO Craig Tiley says. Tiley, who has been serving as a longtime head of the Australian Open, has taken this step towards the innovation of the sport.
World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka was one such player to have spoken her opinions during an interview ahead of her participation at the Indian Wells Open 2026, which is an ATP-WTA tournament. The four-time Grand Slam champion believed the new regulation could be beneficial for her game.
Sabalenka said, “Yeah, let’s do that. I feel like I would have probably more Grand Slams,” Sabalenka added. “Physically, I’m really strong, and I’m pretty confident that my body can handle that. So let’s do it.”
Like Sabalenka, Coco Gauff feels the change could result in their favour. “It probably would favour me because I’m physically up there with the best,” said Gauff.
Swiatek and Rybakina discuss concerns about best-of-five matches
Meanwhile, Iga Swiatek brought in a different perspective saying that she opposes the decision to make matches longer. She raised concerns about players getting tired from playing long hours along with the decrease in quality.
“It’s a weird approach in the world where everything is becoming faster. So I don’t know if the audience honestly would like that. I don’t know if we would be able to keep the quality for five sets. Men are more physically strong and they can handle it better,” Swiatek said.
On the other hand, Australian Open reigning champion Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan agreed to the challenges and concerns brought up by Swiatek saying that playing for long hours could affect their mental health.
“You start in one format, and then it gets longer, so mentally, to be ready to play so many sets if it goes to that point, I think it’s not easy. It’s a tricky topic, and as a player, I would say I wouldn’t want to play three out of five, to be honest,” Rybakina said.
