Aryna Sabalenka appears to have made a U-turn on if she would want to play best-of-five set matches at Grand Slams.
Sabalenka said she was ‘not ready’ for five set matches at Wimbledon last year, claiming that it would only reduce injuries.
The hotly debated topic was raised once again at the Australian Open earlier this year, when then tournament director Craig Tiley, who has now joined the USTA, proposed the idea of women playing best-of-five sets from the quarterfinals at Grand Slams.
Many WTA players including Iga Swiatek are against playing best-of-five, but it appears that Sabalenka may have had a change of heart.
Aryna Sabalenka thinks she would have won more Grand Slams with best of five
Sabalenka lost in the Australian Open final to Elena Rybakina, and she has not played since after withdrawing from tournaments in Doha and Dubai.
As she prepares to return to competition at Indian Wells, Sabalenka was asked about Tiley’s proposal.
Sabalenka responded emphatically, as she claimed that she thinks there is a good chance she would have won more Grand Slam titles in the best-of-five set format.
“Yeah, let’s do that,” Sabalenka said in her pre-tournament press conference. “I feel like I would have probably more Grand Slams. I feel like physically I’m really strong, and I’m pretty confident that my body can handle that. So let’s do it.”
The world number one added, “Well, I don’t know. I guess it’s a lot of fitness work to be done for others, but I feel like we’re in sport and we have to care about ourselves, and I feel like if they do it, I have huge advantage.”
Which WTA player would benefit the most from playing best-of-five sets?
Women last played a best-of-five set match in 1998, with it being even longer since a Grand Slam had the longer format at a major tournament, which came at the 1901 U.S. National Championships.
Coco Gauff disagrees with Aryna Sabalenka on best of five set matches
While Sabalenka may have changed her tune on this topic, there is still a clear divide of opinion on this topic.
This was evidenced in Coco Gauff’s Indian Wells press conference, as she stated that she would not want to see it brought in, despite thinking it would benefit her.
However, Gauff did also explain that she would prefer to play best-of-five sets for a whole Grand Slam tournament, rather than bringing it in from the quarterfinal stage.
“Yeah, I mean, it probably would favor me, because I’m physically up there with the best, but I mean, I probably wouldn’t want to see that happen, and if it were to happen, I would prefer it to be the whole tournament, not just the quarters,” said Gauff.
“I think changing the format in the middle of the tournament defeats the purpose of the playing field.
“Yeah, I think it would be a lot on players and also, like, fans and TV. I mean, imagine, like, sometimes five sets lasts all the way to the 7:00 p.m. session. If all of us were going five sets, I don’t even think we would be able to finish within the two weeks, to be honest.”
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When Tiley proposed the idea of best-of-five set matches for women earlier this year, he did explain that there would need to be a lot of conversations with players, and at the moment it does not seem as though the WTA Tour is on the same page.
This will not be an issue at Indian Wells, as both men and women play best-of-three sets throughout the tournament.
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