Aryna Sabalenka fell short in the Australian Open final, again…
The Belarusian star won the Australian Open title in 2023 and 2024, establishing herself as the world’s best down under.
She reached the next two finals in 2025 and 2026, but lost both times to Madison Keys and Elena Rybakina.
Which WTA player would benefit the most from playing best-of-five sets?
Still searching for an elusive third Australian Open title, Sabalenka must surely be asking herself what more she has to do in Melbourne.
Well, luckily for the 27-year-old, in the aftermath of her most recent Australian Open final defeat, tournament director Craig Tiley proposed a rule change that could genuinely boost her title chances for 2027…
Women playing best-of-five sets at the Australian Open would be perfect for Aryna Sabalenka
Speaking to ‘aap‘, Tiley shared his thoughts on introducing best-of-five set matches for women at the Australian Open.
“You can’t replicate that [men’s] semi-final day. That was amazing,” he said.
2026 Australian Open men’s semifinals
- Carlos Alcaraz defeated Alexander Zverev, 6-4, 7-6, 6-7, 6-7, 7-5 (5hr, 27)
- Novak Djokovic defeated Jannik Sinner, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 (4hr, 9)
“I’m still getting chills just thinking about it, and then you can’t replicate that final last night on the women’s side. It was unbelievable.
“One of the things I’ve been saying now is that I think there should be three out of five sets for women.
Should women play best-of-five sets at Grand Slams?
“We should look at the last few matches – the quarters and the semis and the finals – and make the women’s side three out of five.
“So it’s something we should put on the agenda and start talking to the players about it because there are some matches in those last rounds which would have been fascinating had they been three out of five sets.
“Now I don’t know whether the players would want to do it or not, but it is something we need to consider on the women’s side.
“Certainly, if we’re going to do it and we think it’s the right thing, we’ll definitely go in 2027.
“So there’s nothing in the rules stopping that from happening. But we need to do it with really deep consultation with the players.”
The rule change would be one of the most dramatic in Open Era history, but how could it benefit Sabalenka?
Firstly, her physical attributes lend themselves to longer matches.
While other players may tire in a hypothetical fourth or fifth set, you can imagine Sabalenka thriving.
Longer matches would also give Sabalenka more time to find her rhythm.
Her hard-hitting, powerful game style often brings about a high unforced error count, especially during the early stages of matches.
Extending the length of matches would allow Sabalenka to learn the conditions and adapt her game suitably.
Her mental struggles are also worth considering.
Sabalenka has grown visibly frustrated during high-stakes Grand Slam matches on several occasions.
You can see the Belarusian realise her dream slipping away, and her game falls apart as a result.
Again, in a longer match, she’d have the time to process those emotions without losing.
For all her success at the Grand Slam level, Sabalenka has arguably underperformed recently.
But despite not winning as many majors as she’d have liked, she rarely goes down in straight sets.
Since the beginning of the 2023 season, Sabalenka has lost eight Grand Slam matches.
Aryna Sabalenka’s Grand Slam defeats since 2023
| Match | Opponent | Score | Match length |
| 2023 French Open – SF | Karolina Muchova | 6-7, 7-6, 5-7 | 3hr, 13 |
| 2023 Wimbledon – SF | Ons Jabeur | 7-6, 4-6, 3-6 | 2hr, 19 |
| 2023 US Open – F | Coco Gauff | 6-2, 3-6, 2-6 | 2hr, 6 |
| 2024 French Open – QF | Mirra Andreeva | 7-6, 4-6, 4-6 | 2hr, 28 |
| 2025 Australian Open – F | Madison Keys | 3-6, 6-2, 5-7 | 2hr, 2 |
| 2025 French Open – F | Coco Gauff | 7-6, 2-6, 4-6 | 2hr, 38 |
| 2025 Wimbledon – SF | Amanda Anisimova | 4-6, 6-4, 4-6 | 2hr, 37 |
| 2026 Australian Open – F | Elena Rybakina | 4-6, 6-4, 4-6 | 2hr, 18 |
In all eight defeats, Sabalenka forced her opponent to a deciding set.
It’s not too much of a stretch to argue that if she had another two sets to work with, she’d have turned at least a couple of those losses into wins…
What has Aryna Sabalenka said about playing best-of-five?
Sabalenka spoke about the prospect of playing best-of-five set Grand Slam matches at Wimbledon last year.
“Probably physically I’m one of the strongest ones, so maybe it would benefit me,” she said.
“But I think I’m not ready to play five sets.
“I think it’s too much on the woman’s body. I think we’re not ready for this amount of tennis. I think it would increase the amount of injuries.
“So I think this is not something I would consider.”
Sabalenka wasn’t a fan of the idea, but perhaps she should reconsider if Tiley asks for her thoughts before the 2027 Australian Open.
The Belarusian won’t want to worry herself about Grand Slam rule changes just yet, though, as she turns her attention to the two WTA 1000 events in the Middle East.
Who will win the 2026 Qatar Open?
She’ll first head to Doha for the Qatar Open, which begins on Monday, February 9.
Sabalenka lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova in her opening match at the event last year.
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