The Grand Slams open the door to eliminating fifth sets

The new CEO of the Australian Open has ignited the debate about Grand Slams and playing the best of five sets. Andrew Abdo, the new CEO of Tennis Australia, has raised the possibility that the Grand Slams may no longer use this format for the men's draw and experiment with shorter matches in certain rounds. The goal: to compete for the attention of new generations accustomed to consuming entertainment in an increasingly immediate way.

Abdo, who joined Tennis Australia after leading the Australian National Rugby League, believes that tennis cannot remain oblivious to the changes in consumption habits of the younger audience. He has not presented a finalized proposal but rather a statement of intent that may be particularly uncomfortable for the more purist tennis fans.

"Perhaps in the future, at the Grand Slams, depending on the rounds or the duration, we won't play best of five throughout the tournament. Perhaps the scoring system will change," he explained during the SportNXT conference held in Melbourne.

The phrase contains a key word: perhaps. So far, there is no confirmed project to transform the format of the four majors. However, the fact that the top leader of Tennis Australia publicly raises this possibility demonstrates that the debate is on the table, something that invokes fear of what could happen if the four Slams agree on this measure.

Should we change one of the major symbols of the Grand Slams?

For several years now, we have heard the argument that we must adapt to the youth so that tennis opens up to a new community, having a fan base with a relatively high average age. With very long matches, at very changing times and hard to follow on television, some believe that removing the fifth sets would attract more young fans.

The last Australian Open provided two examples that are hard to use as arguments in favor of reducing their duration. Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev played the longest semifinal in the tournament's history for 5 hours and 27 minutes, with the Spanish winning 6-4, 7-6(5), 6-7(3), 6-7(4), and 7-5. It was also the third-longest match ever played at Melbourne Park.

Hours later, Novak Djokovic needed 4 hours and 9 minutes to defeat Jannik Sinner 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, and 6-4. Two semifinals, ten sets, and nearly ten hours of tennis that ended up becoming one of the major events of the tournament.

What Abdo uses as an example of what should not be, due to being too long, is seen by fans as one of the best tennis days we have ever witnessed.

The stance of the new head of Tennis Australia has a clear commercial angle. "If you want to maximize your commercial outcome, we are in the entertainment business," defended Abdo, who believes that rules, formats, and the product itself must evolve to compete with other sports and leisure options.

His speech points to possible modifications of the scoring system or formulas that allow for speeding up certain phases of the tournament without completely eliminating what distinguishes a Grand Slam from the regular tour. It is likely here that the real discussion will happen in the coming years. Can we maintain the best of five only from the round of 16? From the quarterfinals? Introduce different formats in the early rounds? Change the scoring before changing the number of sets?

Interestingly, Tennis Australia was discussing exactly the opposite just a few months ago. Craig Tiley, Abdo's predecessor, and now CEO of the USTA, defended during the last Australian Open the possibility that women could start playing best of five sets from the quarterfinals. His argument was precisely that viewer interest increases as the match progresses.

Two heads of the same organization and two seemingly opposing paths. Tiley envisioned a Grand Slam with more five-set matches. Abdo considers the possibility of having fewer. Both, however, start from the same question: how should tennis evolve to remain relevant in an increasingly competitive entertainment industry.

Tennis would die if they remove the fifth sets

Always with the same argument of wanting to entice the youth, the Grand Slams tread that thin line where trying to win over a new audience could cause them to lose the one they already have. With a record of 1.3 million spectators at the last Australian Open, it would be very bold to attempt to change a sport completely.

Should tennis be played with a frying pan because it would be more fun and attract more spectators? Should tennis players dress up as chicks to attract young fans? The mere fact that this idea genuinely runs through the offices of Grand Slam executives is alarming to anyone.

This is not against this man, in particular, but against the same old argument: we have to adapt to the young.

Why?

Would football change to implement new rules to attract new youth? Should we make goals from outside the area count double or every… https://t.co/krSZK2oSfE

— José Morón (@jmgmoron) September 8, 2026

What needs to be done, and we are already late on this, is to implement a series of measures that would make tennis a sport of this century, and not of two decades ago.

-That all ATP and WTA circuits can be watched on TV on the same platform, not that each Slam is seen in different places and hard to follow the matches one wants to watch.
-Better scheduling (it’s detrimental for matches to end at 3 in the morning).
-Roofs on main courts (if it rains there is no tennis: what would happen if it rained for two weeks straight due to a storm?).
-Access to match footage much easier (NBA model with highlights that can be shared on social media without copyright), as this creates a community by spreading on social networks. This is where we attract a young audience.
-A less packed calendar, with more opportunities to see duels between the Top (for 2026 to end with ONE Alcaraz-Sinner and 0 in Grand Slams is a tremendous failure); we need to promote that the best can face each other more often like they do in other sports like football or the NBA.

Until this is carried out, we can do whatever we want, and young people will still not be interested in this sport. There is also the risk of wanting to adapt to tastes that may change in five years. What must never be lost is the essence of this sport, which, by the way, is experiencing the best moment of its life in terms of general interest.
 

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Los Grand Slams abren la puerta a quitar los quintos sets