Kim Clijsters has reacted to the growing conversation surrounding women playing best of five sets in the future.
There is often a debate about whether women should play best of five sets, and this has only been heightened over the past week.
Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley has stated his desire to have women play best of five sets at the tournament next year.
Tiley’s comments have split opinion among both current and former players, and now Clijsters has revealed what she thinks about it, as well as suggesting how she thinks it could impact Iga Swiatek.
Kim Clijsters says if she would have liked to play best-of-five set matches
Clijsters never got the opportunity to play best of five set matches in her career, and she claimed that it would have been something she would have liked to do when speaking on her Love All podcast.
The four-time Grand Slam champion also spoke about how it could benefit certain players, which Clijsters thinks could include Swiatek.
“The five setter, when I heard him say that, I was like I kind of like that idea!” said Clijsters. “I think I would have liked it as a player. I think I would have really enjoyed the challenge and the physical challenge of it, as well as the mental challenge that comes with that.
“I remember asking Andy [Roddick] about what it’s like playing a five setter and how do you adjust your mindset to playing smaller tournaments throughout the year, where you have to win two sets to win the match. And how does it change your mind?
“It would definitely benefit a few players. The first one I can think of is Iga Swiatek. She is super fit and has that really high intensity tennis built in to her game now. I think it would be really hard to win three sets against her.
“There are a few players who have come out against it, but I would have loved to have seen a fourth or a fifth set in the women’s final.”
While the Australian Open is the tournament that has mentioned it first, there is a chance that the US Open could have best of five set women’s matches first.
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The reason why Iga Swiatek may not be happy to play best-of-five set matches
While Clijsters backs Swiatek in a best of five set format, she may not actually be keen on the idea herself.
Swiatek has not spoken about Tiley’s comments since he made them last week, but some of her other comments suggest that this would not be something she is particularly keen on.
As a lot of other players have, Swiatek has been highly critical of the tennis schedule over the past year, and the amount of matches players are required to compete in.
“Well, when I look at the schedule, I think we’re playing too much, and the schedule is crazy,” Swiatek said in Beijing last year.
“That’s the first thing probably that will pop into my head. The schedule is really demanding and tough.”
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Given these comments, Swiatek is unlikely to want to play in an even longer format at four tournaments every year, particularly as someone who is challenging for every Grand Slam title.
Swiatek even intends to skip some big tournaments this year, but she will no doubt be asked about the potential of playing best of five set matches at her upcoming events in Doha and Dubai.
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