The debate on best-of-five sets at Grand Slam tournaments continues to roar on, with Juan Carlos Ferrero the latest to give his opinion on the matter.
Ferrero, who has previously coached ATP superstar Carlos Alcaraz, has just predicted that five-set matches at Grand Slams are soon going to be a thing of the past. Men currently play best-of-five set matches at every round of the four majors, while women play best-of-three.
Former players John Isner and Sam Querrey have now reacted to the comments of Ferrero, who reached three Grand Slam finals during his playing career. The former ATP number one won only one of those finals at the 2003 French Open.
John Isner and Sam Querrey disagree with Juan Carlos Ferrero
Speaking on the Nothing Major Show, former Wimbledon semifinalist Isner said of Ferrero’s comments: “I disagree. The majority of players want to keep the five sets.” Querrey, another former Wimbledon semifinalist, added: “And by majority of players if you pulled a guy in the top 100, it will be about 98%.”
Isner then continued: “Even I would want to keep the five sets if I was still playing. Two out of three sets as a guy like me and you Sam, I think it would benefit us, but keep the three out of five. It can’t go anywhere.”
And Querrey replied: “I could not agree more. Putting in the work off the court and the physicality, that is such a part of the game. That’s why it’s so difficult to win a major. I know some matches go for four or four-and-a-half hours, but it’s not every match and I think that’s one of the things that makes tennis so beautiful and so amazing, these extended matches with the best players in the world. If you are going to beat [Carlos] Alcaraz, [Jannik] Sinner, [Novak] Djokovic and [Alexander] Zverev you might need to do it in four hours. It’s the ultimate test. I am with you, I disagree.”
Should women play best-of-five sets at Grand Slams?
It is a debate that is likely to continue for some time, and one that remains in the limelight after what happened at the US Open. There were several lengthy battles in New York, particularly the quarterfinal epic between Ben Shelton and Carlos Alcaraz, which finished at 3.33am local time. It was a stunning spectacle for many fans, although others were not exactly pleased with the logistics of such a late finish, which was the latest in the entire history of the tournament.
Of course, it will be impossible to please everyone regarding a possible change to the format of Grand Slams, but one option would be to play best-of-three-set matches earlier in the tournaments, before continuing with best-of-five-set matches in the latter stages.
