Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys have recently shared their thoughts on Craig Tiley’s suggestion to change the women’s format at the Australian Open from best-of-three to best-of-five from the quarterfinals onwards. The director of the Australian Open and CEO of Tennis Australia, Tiley, announced these potential changes following the thrilling deliveries in the men’s semifinals and the women’s final at Melbourne Park.
Australian Open Stars Madison Keys, Jessica Pegula Share Honest Take on 5-Set Format Debate
The first Grand Slam of the season came to an exhilarating conclusion, with Carlos Alcaraz becoming the youngest player to complete a career Grand Slam, as he won the title after defeating legend Novak Djokovic. In women’s singles, Elena Rybakina won her first Australian Open and second Grand Slam title after defeating World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in a three-set battle.
Apart from these, the men’s semifinals also produced notable performances, as Alcaraz defeated Zverev in what became the longest semifinal in tournament history, lasting 5 hours and 27 minutes over five sets. The other action-packed semifinal between World No. 2 Jannik Sinner and Djokovic went for four hours and nine minutes.
Keeping these successes in mind, Tiley suggested earlier that the women’s format should be changed from best-of-three to best-of-five from the quarterfinals onwards, as fewer sets reduced the intensity of the matches.
He had added, among other things, “One of the things I’ve been saying now is that I think there should be three out of five sets for women. We should look at the last few matches, the quarters and the semis and the finals, and make the women’s side three out of five.”
After Danielle Collins, fellow Americans Pegula and Keys have also shared their thoughts on these changes, during their recent episode on “The Player’s Box Podcast,” the Buffalo, New York, native unreservedly added, “I mean, would I want to? No.”
The 2025 Australian Open champion, Keys, further mentioned, highlighting her reluctance and that the changes should be done in the men’s format as well, “I think we’re all capable of doing it. I don’t think I would sign up to do more. If we were to do that, you change the men as well, and they also only play three out of five quarterfinals on. I feel like the argument is like, ‘oh, the women there’s just so many more people could win every week and it’s crazy’, especially in slams.”
She continued, “But then, if you look at the men’s draw, the amount of time that top seeds would have lost because they went down two sets to love, two sets to one, like that would have been over, and you would have had way more upsets.”
READ MORE: Danielle Collins Makes Her Feelings Known on Craig Tiley’s Best of Five Sets Claim
Furthermore, Pegula revealed that expanding the set format would have one advantage and also suggested increasing the prize money. She added, “I just think three out of five is easier in a sense because you have more time to come back, I would also feel like maybe prize money would have to (thumbs up).”
Pegula ended her run at Melbourne Park with a semifinal loss to Rybakina, whereas Keys couldn’t defend her title after a fourth-round defeat at the hands of the Bills’ billionaire heiress.
