Two Out Of Three Sets At Majors Idea Being Talked About

Written by: Staff on 16th August 2012

Two Out Of Three Sets At Majors Idea Being Talked About

epa03338427 Novak Djokovic of Serbia in action during his men's semi final match against Andy Murray of Britain during the London 2012 Olympic Games Tennis competition in Wimbledon, Greater London, Britain, 03 August 2012. EPA/ANDY RAIN |

During the Olympics, a couple of TV commentators tossed out the idea of changing the majors men’s singles format from three out of five sets to two out of three sets, like what was done during the Olympic until the final. The top players have different reactions to it, but all of them see the many sides of the equation.

“I wouldn’t deny it, definitely,” said No. 2 Novak Djokovic. “From one side it would be maybe better for us because then we could get more rest and not get into those long couple of hours’ matches. On the other hand, it’s been a tradition of this sport for many years, and we all try to respect the tradition. I think that is why tennis is so global and respected throughout the world, because we keep our tradition, keep our tournaments. So it’s a very fine line. It’s very hard to say. But at least we have a day between the matches of best of five where you can rest.”

Andy Roddick, who has been struggling with injuries during the past two years, didn’t seem adverse to the idea.

“I wouldn’t be against it, Roddick said. “It’s tough, because I could easily argue both ways. From a fan perspective and a TV perspective, it would probably be easier to put together a product for TV when you know the time slots a little bit more. Sometimes at Slams you get a match that’s great, but it kind of makes it tricky as far as TV. That’s kind of the livelihood of healthy sport in general is TV viewership. Ultimately it comes back down to what the fans want to see. I think our opinion on that sometimes is secondary to what they can sell and what they can package.”

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have said in the past that they like the three out of five set format the best because the more sets a player has to win, the more often that the better players come through, which is why both have of them have rarely lost to lesser players at the majors. Andy Murray appears to be in their camp.

“I like the best of five format in the slams, that extra mental effort and physical effort you see the rewards that you put in off the court ,” Murray said. “When you play a best of three set match, some of the matches [in the Masters Series] are like 50 minutes, an hour and 10 minutes. You need to be very quick and agile, but you don’t necessarily have to have great endurance. I think that is one of the added benefits of the best-of five set matches. You get to see that from the players, and you get to see how much work they put in in the gym, as well.”

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