Should Women's Tennis Matches be Best of Five Like the Men?

Should women play best of five sets in the grand slams like the men do? I have been thinking about this question recently and have always wondered why women do not play best of five.

These articles below highlight the reasons in support of and against this idea:

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/09/03/womens-tennis-is-best-of-three-sets-enough-3/a-longer-tennis-match-isnt-always-more-entertaining

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/09/03/womens-tennis-is-best-of-three-sets-enough-3/women-should-play-best-of-5-in-slams

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/09/03/womens-tennis-is-best-of-three-sets-enough-3/best-of-3-in-early-rounds-best-of-5-in-finals

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/09/03/womens-tennis-is-best-of-three-sets-enough-3/this-is-about-prize-money

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/09/03/womens-tennis-is-best-of-three-sets-enough-3/women-tennis-players-deserve-epic-matches-too

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/09/03/womens-tennis-is-best-of-three-sets-enough-3/in-tennis-its-the-way-its-almost-always-been

http://www.economist.com/blogs/gametheory/2012/01/gender-and-tennis

What do the members on this esteemed forum think about the prospect of best-of-tennis for the women?

God no that would be more of my broadcast window taken up by the WTA, means more fast forwarding on the DVR machine.

If anything they should make the third set a tiebreaker that would make me the happiest of all.

No. Not because they couldn't play BO5 but because it would really muck up the fixtures and major tournaments might have to be put over 3 weeks.

Maybe if they allowed men entry into the women's events, that might improve matters for many viewers?

Nore Staat wrote:Maybe if they allowed men entry into the women's events, that might improve matters for many viewers?

I for one would love to see Ivo Karlovic battering down 140mph aces at Cibulkova.

I think best of 5 in early rounds of slams would lead to some tedious one side matches that would be too much for spectators and fans. However best of 5 in slam finals only might work. I am surprised one of the 4 slams hasn't brought it in first as it would give them something unique and a marketing talking point, as well as making that tournament the default no 1 tournament arguably, or at least move up its standing.

Where did the final used to be bo5? Think it was in 80s / 90s.

bogbrush wrote:Where did the final used to be bo5? Think it was in 80s / 90s.

At a guess I'd say Miami, when it was the Lipton tourny.

Men and women can run marathons...there is no physical reason why it can't be Bo5...but it would make for some tedious matches for sure.

Here it is;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WTA_Tour_Championships

Some good 5 setters there!

Why not this for the Slams? Just the final, or maybe semis & final.

I could live with Bo5 later on in the finals.

More of that Serena / Azarenka match wouldn't have been too painful, so long as the volume is turned down.

In some respects the Bo3 format is reverse-discriminatory...it's treating them as weaker specimens than they actually are. And of course they're paid even better than the men on a per-set basis, so it's not equal pay either from that basis.

It might help improve fitness standards in the women's game. Often some of the players don't get going till the end of the 2nd set and it's over before a proper match can really get going. Bo5 in SF's and finals I wouldn't have a problem with. Think it would muck up the fixture lists too much to have them in every round though.

I also think it would help with the equality issue. I am female but I am honestly baffled at how they get paid the same in Slams when they play so little in comparison to the men. I don't think it's fair and I think it works against feminism to be given equal pay just because they are women, they need to actually earn it.

I agree with rugby as loathe as I am to watch women's tennis and having it take attention away from the ATP players I think the finals of all slams for the women should be 5 sets. This would take the physical bar up for these women players. They are all very talented but frankly the gap in fitness levels between the best players on the mens tour and the womens tour is gigantic. I have always had more respect for the male or female players that have worked hard and kept in the highest levels of fitness. Navratilova, Graf, and everett come to mind. These ladies were serious professionals that even a hardened sexist would have problems denying their right to equal money and glory at the slams. Now I see a lot of WTA a matches with women that frankly are entirely too fat to be playing worldclass tennis.

I think best of one set would suffice