Australian Open Boss Floats Five-Set Format for Women's Singles
Craig Tiley, the tournament director of the Australian Open, has ignited a significant debate within the tennis world by suggesting the extension of the best-of-five-set format to the women's singles competition. This proposal comes in the wake of the extraordinary success and dramatic intensity witnessed during the men's semi-final night in Melbourne, which captivated global audiences.
Epic Men's Matches Spark Format Rethink
Television ratings soared to remarkable heights last Friday as the tennis world was treated to a marathon evening of high-stakes action. First, world number one Carlos Alcaraz endured a gruelling five-hour and twenty-seven-minute battle to overcome Alexander Zverev in a match brimming with tension and drama. This was swiftly followed by a classic encounter where ten-time Open champion Novak Djokovic defeated the two-time defending champion, Jannik Sinner, in a four-hour and nine-minute spectacle.
Tiley believes that the compelling nature of these contests, coupled with Elena Rybakina's gripping three-set victory over world number one Aryna Sabalenka in the women's final, demonstrates the immense potential for similar theatrical drama on the women's side. He has floated the idea of extending women's matches to best-of-five sets from the quarter-finals onwards, potentially as early as next year, but only with the explicit approval of the players themselves.
Consultation and Historical Precedent
'You cannot replicate that men's semi-final day. It was amazing,' Tiley remarked, while also hailing the 2026 Open as potentially the greatest event ever. 'I am still getting chills just thinking about it, and then you cannot replicate that final last night on the women's side. It was unbelievable. One of the things I have been saying is that I think there should be three out of five sets for women. We should look at the last few matches—the quarters, the semis, and the finals—and make the women's side three out of five.'
He emphasised that this is a topic for the agenda, requiring deep consultation with the athletes. 'It is something we should put on the agenda and start talking to the players about because there are some matches in those last rounds which would have been fascinating had they been three out of five sets. Now I do not know whether the players would want to do it or not, but it is something we need to consider on the women's side.'
Tiley noted that, just as the four grand slams have different deciding-set tiebreak rules, the Australian Open would not require approval from the grand slam committee to implement such a change. 'Certainly if we are going to do it and we think it is the right thing, we will definitely go in 2027. So there is nothing in the rules stopping that from happening. But we need to do it with really deep consultation with the players.'
This is not the first time such an idea has been proposed. In 1994, Australian Open officials announced the women's final would become a best-of-five-set match the following year, but player pushback, led by Steffi Graf, led to the plan being abandoned. Furthermore, from 1984 to 1998, the title match at the WTA's season-ending championship was contested as a best-of-five-set affair before that format was also discontinued.
Equal Pay and Tournament Structure
The discussion gains additional weight in the context of equal prize money, which women now receive at all four grand slam tournaments. The argument for aligning the singles draws by featuring best-of-five-set tennis for both genders continues to be a point of contention within the sport.
In other significant developments, Tiley confirmed that the 20-day Australian Open format is here to stay following its success this year. The tournament's opening ceremony on Saturday night featured legends such as Roger Federer, Andre Agassi, Ash Barty, Lleyton Hewitt, and Pat Rafter, following a week of qualifying, exhibition matches, and the popular million-dollar one-point Slam event.
The tournament director also did not rule out a Saturday start for future editions, but indicated this might only be feasible if women's matches in the later rounds were extended to five sets. Additionally, Tiley declined to comment on speculation regarding a potential move to the USTA and mentioned that the Open would consider adjustments to the qualifying event and the addition of wildcards for next year.
