Craig Tiley, the Australian Open Tournament Director, has recently revealed that major changes could be coming to the women’s format from the quarterfinals onwards at the Australian Open. Tiley’s suggestion in the format comes after the successful first Grand Slam of 2026, which delivered thrilling performances in the women’s singles final and the men’s singles semifinals.
What Did Craig Tiley Say About the Changes To Be Implemented for the Australian Open?
The 2026 Australian Open has reached its glorious end and captured fantastic performances from women and men players. The women’s singles title was captured by the Russian-Kazakhstani star, Elena Rybakina, after defeating two-time Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka in a thriller showdown at the Rod Laver Arena.
Rybakina repeated her 2025 WTA Finals performance, during which she defeated Sabalenka in two sets, and at Melbourne Park, their title battle lasted 2 hours and 18 minutes and ended with a final scoreline of 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.
Whereas the men’s semifinal between World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz and World No. 3 Alexander Zverev showcased incredible performances from both players. Their match was the longest semifinal in the history of the tournament, as it went for five hours and 27 minutes, with Zverev losing with a final scoreline of 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (3-7), 6-7 (4-7), 7-5.
The second semifinal from the men’s side was between Serbian legend Novak Djokovic and two-time Australian Open defending champion Jannik Sinner. The five-set thriller was captured by Djokovic, who produced one of his best performances, with a concluding score of 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, which lasted four hours and nine minutes.
Keeping in mind the spectacular matches, Tiley has suggested that on the women’s side, the set format should be changed to best-of-five sets from best-of-three sets. He further added that the change should be implemented from the quarterfinal round onwards.
He expressed, as per The Tennis Letter’s recent X post, “You can’t replicate that semi-final day. That was amazing. Probably the biggest and best event ever. I’m still getting chills just thinking about it, and then you can’t replicate that final last night on the women’s side.”
He continued, “It was unbelievable. 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.”
Tiley, who is also the CEO of Tennis Australia, the governing body of the sport in the country, further added, highlighting how more sets would increase the interest, “So it’s something we should put on the agenda and start talking to the players about it because there’s some matches in those last rounds which would have been fascinating had they been three out of five sets. Now I don’t know whether the players would want to do it or not, but it is something we need to consider on the women’s side.”
BREAKING:
Australian Open Tournament Director, Craig Tiley, says the women might be asked to play best-of-five sets from the quarterfinals onward next season.
“You can’t replicate that semi-final day. That was amazing. Probably the biggest and best event ever.”
“I’m still like… pic.twitter.com/fiItY6orsJ
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) February 1, 2026
The 2026 Australian Open ended in a historic way, as Alcaraz completed his career Grand Slam, becoming the youngest player in the Open era to do so, while Rybakina won her first Grand Slam title at Melbourne Park, among other memorable moments.
