Novak Djokovic believes best-of-five matches must remain a part of major events such as Wimbledon but he also thinks there should be a compromise too.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion spoke about the format following his 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(3), win over Alexi Popryin on Saturday which moved him into the fourth round at The All England Club for the 16th time in his career. He has now won 50 matches at major events since turning 35. A milestone only previously achieved by Ken Rosewall and Roger Federer on the men’s Tour.
Djokovic has played a staggering 51 five-set matches so far in his career and has won 40 of them. Out of that 40, eight have seen him win by coming back from two sets down.
“Five-set matches, nowadays you can only see them in Grand Slams, right? That’s what I guess excites both players and the crowd. Most of the people love to see it. We as players like to play it. Maybe not that often.” Said Djokovic.
“I think they’re an important aspect of the history and of the future, as well, of the sport. I would support it, particularly in the latter stages of the Grand Slam.” He added.
Over the years, there has been a debate about whether to shorten matches to a best-of-three format. Supporters argue that they would ease the physical demand on players, help with tournament scheduling and TV broadcasting. On the other side of the argument, many say best-of-five is a pivotal part of Grand Slam history and it is popular with many fans.
As for Djokovic, he believes it is possible to have the best of both worlds.
“I think they should stay best-of-five. The only thing that I’m maybe thinking it could be good to consider is the opening rounds that could go best-of-three, and then you move into the hybrid of best-of-fives from the fourth rounds or quarters. That’s just me, my thinking.” He explained.
“I think best-of-five, particularly in the last three or four rounds of a slam, you need to keep. But in terms of innovation in tennis, I think it’s necessary.
“I think we have to figure out how to attract a young audience. I think tennis, on the one hand, is in a good place, but atthe same time when we look at Formula 1, for example, and what they have done in terms of marketing, in terms of growth of the sport, in terms of the races around the world and how popular they are, I think we need to do a better job on our respective tours. The Grand Slams are always going to do well.”
Besides the format, Djokovic has also called for more action to be taken to make tennis more accessible and increase the number of players who can make a living from the sport. He estimates the current number to be between 350 and 400. The Serbian is the co-founder of the PTPA which is an organisation that calls for players to have a greater say in the decision-making process in the sport.
“I think collectively we all have to come together and understand how to maintain the sport’s foundation or create a new foundation, a cornerstone of really what tennis is about, which is the base level, right, the club level.” He commented.
“Now we have the paddle, that is growing and emerging. People kind of have fun with it and say, Yeah, but tennis is tennis. “Tennis is the king or queen of all the racquet sports.” That’s true but on a club level, tennis is endangered. If we don’t do something about it, paddle of pickleball in the United States, they’re going to convert all the tennis clubs into paddle and pickleball because it’s just more economical.”
Djokovic will return to action at Wimbledon on Monday when he plays Holger Rune for a place in the quarter-finals.
