Billie Jean King believes men’s tennis matches at Grand Slam tournaments should be reduced from five sets to three.
The American icon, who won six Wimbledon singles titles and was a founder of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), called for the end of five-set matches, the BBC reports, because fans wanted to see “quality over quantity”.
Men’s tennis has gone through a mini-crisis in recent seasons with many top players sustaining injuries. In the past 12 months Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka have all missed major tournaments because of fitness issues.
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Reducing the length of Grand Slam matches could help player fitness, but some critics say that if matches were only three sets you would not see epic clashes such as the 2008 Wimbledon final when Rafael Nadal beat Roger Federer in five thrilling sets.
Speaking at a WTA Finals promotional event in Singapore, the 74-year-old King voiced her concerns over player fitness and referred to the 2012 Australian Open final between Djokovic and Nadal, which lasted five hours 53 minutes.
Quoted by Reuters, King said: “Personally, I don’t want the men playing five sets any more. I think it takes too much out of them. Like one time the players played in the Australian Open final. It took six hours. They could hardly walk off the court. I guarantee you that it took a year off their careers.
“I think especially with technology and concentration spans, kids can last about seven seconds now. The point is, I think people want quality over quality.”
Should women play five sets?
In July last year, ahead of Wimbledon, The Independent asked the question: is it sexist that women only play three sets at the Championships?
Men play five-set matches in all four Grand Slam events, while women play three-set matches. The Independent quoted Dr Paul Davis, chairman of the British Philosophy of Sport Association, and Lisa Edwards, senior sports lecturer at Cardiff Metropolitan University, who called the situation “unfair, outdated” and “indefensible”.
Dr Davis said: “The asymmetrical, sex-based arrangements in Grand Slam tennis are degrading to female tennis players - and arguably all females - and oppressive to male tennis players - and arguably all males.”
So, to flip the debate on its head, why don’t women also play five sets at Grand Slams?
King said that women tennis players were “willing” to play five sets. She said: “Everyone keeps saying we don’t want to [play five sets]. We’re very willing. All the women are willing to play three or five sets.”
The Indy reported that Serena Williams would play “best of five, best of seven, whatever”. While Martina Navratilova and Maria Sharapova also argued that the men’s Grand Slam matches should be cut to three sets.
Battle of the prize money
There has been a lot of talk in the tennis world regarding prize money amounts for male and female players.
The BBC says that since 2007 men and women players are paid the same at Grand Slams, but women are “paid significantly less” at women-only events when compared with men’s events.
King believes “you do not get paid in the entertainment business by how long you play for”. She added: “It doesn’t matter if [the artists] play for one hour or six hours. They get paid the same amount.”
How tennis fans reacted
We pick out the best replies on Twitter to King’s comments about three-set matches in male Grand Slam matches.
“Argument over”.
“A good decision for the game”.
“The ladies should play five as well”.
The debate has started…
“This is a joke”.
“We would lose that entertainment”.
“Reduce the number of tournaments”.
“If you’re bored, go watch the Kardashians”.
“I’m a fan, but she’s wrong here”.
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