Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka says she wouldn’t want women’s tennis to move to best-of-five-set matches at Grand Slam tournaments — like the men play — fearing higher injury risks.
“Probably physically, I’m one of the strongest ones, so maybe it would benefit me. But I think I’m not ready to play five sets,” Sabalenka said following her two-set first-round victory at Wimbledon 2025 on Monday.
“I think it’s too much on the woman’s body. I think we’re not ready for this amount of tennis. I think it would increase the amount of injuries. So I think this is not something I would consider,” she added.
There’s no widespread movement for the change, but it’s an occasional talking point — if women’s tennis should move to best of five at the later stages of the major tournaments.
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Sabalenka was asked about the French Open final in which Carlos Alcaraz beat Jannik Sinner in a five-setter that lasted 5 1/2 hours.
“For someone watching, it’s amazing to see five hours of great tennis,” Sabalenka said.
“But I’m not really jealous to stay there for five hours as a player. I don’t know how many days they needed to recover after that crazy match,” she added.
No. 2-ranked Coco Gauff expressed similar sentiments about best of five sets on Saturday.
“It would favor me just from a physicality standpoint. But I do think it would kind of be a big change for the tour. I think it would be fine just keeping it like how it is,” the American said.
Sabalenka beat 194th-ranked Carson Branstine 6-1, 7-5 in 73 minutes on Monday.
