The French Open is now the only Grand Slam event that still uses the traditional rule – best of five sets, no tie-break in the fifth set – and has resulted in a number of marathon matches, like Lorenzo Giustino-Corentin Moutet, this could extend over several days of play.
Of course, each slam still uses the best-of-five format for men’s singles instead of best-of-three. Should it be changed? Novak Djokovic, for his part, is doing what he should be doing. He said at the Nitto ATP Finals that he believes all tournaments – even majors – should be best-of-three.
Our Match Points panel also takes a look at this hot tennis topic.
Big problems
All three panelists agree that the current context is too long, which could affect tennis in various ways. Rothenberg thinks the endings are fascinating and the long climaxes are fun, but they’re bogged down by the preceding four hours to get there.
Both Cambers and Rubin raised issues from a television perspective, whether from viewers or broadcasters. With long matches, Rubin doubts many people will watch these long matches, especially early in the round, while Cambers raised the point where they take up too much airtime for broadcasters.
Cambers also raises concerns about how five-hour matches could affect players’ health, as their performances tend to decline significantly after these matches, while Rubin raised the point where a fitness-based decision maker could be responsible for shifting the focus of tennis coverage. from shooting to anomalies like marathon matches.
How to fix it?
There are successful examples of how to solve the five-set dilemma, and some could be followed, according to the panel.
Rubin suggested the most drastic measures of going straight to best-of-three, as well as testing 10-point tiebreaks and no advantage at this high level, as this has never been attempted before.
Both Cambers and Rothenberg share the idea that there should be a deciding tiebreak specifically at Roland Garros, and that the best-of-three format should be adopted, whether for the first week or for the entirety of the tournament. This could help achieve other goals, such as making tennis the best player, instead of “survival of the fittest,” and perhaps revive the doubles game by easing the burden on big players.
