The last professional best of five set match on the WTA Tour took place nearly 28 years ago.
Tournament director Craig Tiley has proposed the idea of women playing best of five set matches from the quarterfinals at the Australian Open next year.
As a result, this has reignited the debate over whether women should play best of five set matches at major tournaments.
Not everyone agrees with Tiley’s proposals, but it would not actually be the first time that women have played the longer format.
What happened in the final of the 1998 WTA Finals
Best of five set matches were held at the US Open between 1891 and 1901, before tennis was a professional sport.
However, there have been best of five set matches more recently in women’s tennis at the prestigious WTA Finals.
Which WTA player would benefit the most from playing best-of-five sets?
Between the years of 1984 and 1998, the WTA Finals were held at Madison Square Garden, with the final of the tournament taking place over a best of five set format.
The final year of the WTA Finals having best of five set matches came in 1998, featuring the 16 best players from the year.
After playing best of three set matches up to that point, it resulted in a final between the top two seeds, Lindsay Davenport and Martina Hingis.
Both players had previously lost in a best of five set final at the WTA Finals, giving Davenport and Hingis a big opportunity to win their first match in the longer format.
Hingis was the player to take the initiative, beating Davenport, 7–5 6–4 4–6 6–2, to win her first and final best of five set match.
This same final would be repeated a year later, but this time it was Davenport who came out on top in the best of three set format.
Who is the greatest women’s tennis player of all time?
Which player won the most titles when the WTA Finals were held over best of five?
Hingis won just one WTA Finals title when the final was held over best of five sets, and was one of six champions across this 14 year period.
The most successful player in the best of five set WTA Finals format was Steffi Graf, who won five titles between 1984 and 1998.
Graf won all five of her finals played as best of five set matches, including two that went the distance.
Martina Navratilova also won four titles with best of five set finals, but she also lost in three finals.
| WTA Finals Champions | Number of WTA Finals titles won between 1984 and 1998 |
| Steffi Graf | 5 (1987,1989,1993,1995 & 1996) |
| Martina Navratilova | 4 (1984,1985,1986 – March & 1986 – November) |
| Monica Seles | 3 (1990,1991 & 1992) |
| Gabriela Sabatini | 2 (1988 & 1994) |
| Jana Novotna | 1 (1997) |
| Martina Hingis | 1 (1998) |
The other four players to win titles at the WTA Finals between 1984 and 1998 are Monica Seles (3), Gabriela Sabatini (2), Jana Novotna (1) and Hingis (1).
It does not seem as though the WTA Finals have any plans to reintroduce best of five set matches for women anytime soon, but the US Open actually could have a longer format before the Australian Open.
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