LONDON – Every now and then, a debate arises over whether it makes sense for men to continue playing best-of-five-set matches. at Wimbledon and other Grand Slam tournaments. Consider Novak Djokovic a staunch supporter of maintaining the format – at least in the latter stages of the majors.
He would be fine, though, if he got it down to best-three sooner.
There were 34 matches that went far at the All England Club in the first three rounds, the most so far in any Slam in the history of the Open era, which began in 1968. When the fourth of seven rounds began on Sunday, it would only take one more five-set match to equal the highest scoring mark in a whole big tournament.
“Nowadays you only see them at Grand Slams, right? That’s what I think excites both the players and the fans,” said Djokovic, who achieved seven of his men’s records. 24 major championships at Wimbledon.
The fascination is linked to the drama associated with the possibility of twists and turns.
Maybe he’s a little biased: Djokovic is 40-11 through five sets.
“I’ve enjoyed that throughout my career,” he said. “They are an important aspect of the history and also the future of the sport.”
But the 37-year-old Serb, who has spent most weeks ranked No. a young audience.”
Five-set matches that can last four, five, six hours are not ideal for athletes, of course, but also for spectators or TV stations.
“The only thing that maybe I’m thinking would be good to consider is… opening up rounds that could be best-of-three, then you move to hybrid best-of-five from the fourth or quarter rounds. I don’t know. It’s just me,” he said. “I think the best of five, especially in the last three or four rounds of a Slam, you need to maintain.”
Without best-of-five, the sport would miss the kinds of comebacks that have been happening at Wimbledon at an unprecedented rate: Djokovic’s fourth-round opponent on Monday, Holger Rune, won his match on Saturday night against Quentin Halys by 1-6, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-1, already the tenth recovery from a two-set deficit.
Less than halfway through the fortnight, this is a record for a full Wimbledon.
“I was able to raise my level, raise my tennis, when it mattered,” said Rune, who had never won a match after losing the first two sets.
The All England Club has hosted some of the sport’s longest matches, including, most famously, the longest of all time: John Isner’s defeat of Nicolas Mahut by 11 hours and 5 minutes in the first round in 2010, which extended for three days and finished at 70 -68 in the fifth set.
That’s it Isner’s 26-24 loss to Kevin Anderson in the deciding set in the 2018 semi-finals, helped lead Wimbledon – and all Slams – to adopt a first-10 tiebreaker at 6-all in the third set of women’s matches and the fifth set of men’s matches. Before this system was implemented, the All England Club briefly attempted a tiebreaker in 12 – all in the fifth, which went like this Djokovic’s victory over Roger Federer in the 2019 final was solved.
“One of the most exciting matches I’ve ever played in my life,” said Djokovic.
It could have been different if he hadn’t erased two points from the championship and emerged victorious.
Still, the wear and tear caused by playing five sets makes players avoid going far, so they can conserve energy for later matches. Djokovic has not yet reached fifth place in this tournament, but the current champion Carlos Alcaraz was owned by Frances Tiafoefor example.
This is nothing compared to Ben Sheltona 21-year-old American who needed to win three straight five-set matches just to get to the showdown against No. 1 Jannik Sinner on Sunday.
This year’s Australian Open featured a total of 35 five-set matches, tied with the 1983 US Open for the most. Why are there so many lately?
“There are so many good players now. There are actually no (easy) draws – maybe if you play against some clay court guys on grass who aren’t comfortable. But for the most part, everyone plays well on all surfaces. And the level of tennis is at a super, super high level,” said Denis Shapovalov, who lost to Shelton in five games on Saturday. “You just have to be ready to work from the first round.”
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Howard Fendrich has been an AP tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: https://apnews.com/author/howard-fendrich
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