Former Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios has suggested that the first week of Grand Slam tournaments would be more appealing if no best-of-five matches were played.
The Australian argues that best-of-three matches should be used at the four majors until the quarter-final stage and then the longer format. Kyrgios believes this would open the door for more upsets and enable lower-ranked players to get deeper in the draw. His remarks come ahead of his return to the Tour following an 18-month absence due to injury.
“I think best-of-three (sets) up until the quarterfinals, and from then on it’s best-of-five. That’s what I would immediately change at a Grand Slam,” Kyrgios told The Sit-Down podcast.
“If you made it best-of-three (sets) up until the quarterfinals, you’d see some guys break through to the quarterfinals, but then obviously the better players would end up winning best-of-five.
“And the first week would be more exciting… How many times have we seen one of the best players in the draw lose the first set and you’re just like, he’s gonna come back and win it anyway?”
The 29-year-old currently has a win-loss record of 11-4 when playing best-of-five matches, according to the ATP. Nevertheless, he argues that playing shorter matches at these events will also have other benefits.
“I think it would save us a lot of effort on scheduling; (in) the first week scheduling gets out of control,” he continued.
“With the men’s side playing best-of-five and sometimes the women’s matches go long best-of-three, I mean, men’smatches aren’t finishing until like 2 or 3am and it’s just not sustainable, I don’t think.”
Kyrgios, who has won seven ATP titles so far in his career, has also suggested other radical changes he would like to see. This includes getting players to wear microphones so fans can hear what they are saying. He also thinks doubles matches at combined WTA 1000/Masters events should only be mixed.
“What other sport can you get your favourite female athlete and your favourite male athlete competing on the same side of the net, for good prize money? It’s not possible. Like, you don’t see it in any other sport really,” he said.
“So at Masters events, instead of men’s doubles and women’s doubles, it should just be mixed.”
“I’ve had the honour of playing with Serena and Venus (Williams). I would have loved to have played with Ash Barty at some stage. I think she was by far one of the most talented female players to ever play the game. I think we would have done some damage on the court, for sure.”
Kyrgios is set to return to the Tour during the first week of January at the Brisbane International which he won in 2018. His last competitive match was in June 2023.
