Madison Keys Reacts to Australian Open’s Proposal of Best-of-Five Sets in Women’s Singles

Madison Keys has admitted that women players are capable of playing best-of-five sets, which has been proposed by Australian Open Chief Craig Tiley. But the American star noted that she won’t sign up for it as she wants women’s and men’s singles matches to be played in best-of-three sets rather than the current number of sets.

Currently, in Grand Slams, women play best-of-three sets in singles matches, while men play best-of-five sets. In the past few months, there have been discussions about enforcing best-of-five sets in women’s singles at Grand Slam tournaments, but none of the major chiefs have gone public on the matter until Tennis Australia Chief Craig Tiley.

Tiley revealed on Sunday (February 1) that the tournament would like to extend the women’s singles players’ matches to five sets from the quarter-finals and could be enforced in 2027. The Australian Open has the power to make the proposal a rule at the competition, as Grand Slam tournaments act separately and have different rules.

Keys, who won the Australian Open in 2025 after beating Aryna Sabalenka in the final, failed to defend the title this year. She lost to fellow compatriot Jessica Pegula in straight sets in the fourth round, which saw her drop out of the top 10 of the WTA rankings one year after breaking into it, following her Melbourne triumph.

Keys is currently ranked World No.15, falling nine places after the Australian Open. During a conversation on The Player’s Box podcast, Keys revealed that the reason women’s Grand Slam matches are unpredictable is because of the best-of-three sets and that if it were enforced in men’s singles, top players would lose in the early rounds:

I think we are all capable of doing it. But I don’t think I would sign up to do more. I think if we were to do that, you would also change the men as well, and they also only play three out of five from the quarterfinals on. I feel like when you look at a draw, with the women’s draw and then you look at the men’s draw, so often I feel like the argument is that ‘the women so many more people could win every week and it’s crazy in Slams’.

The idea of five sets in women’s matches gained more influence after the Australian Open witnessed one of the best men’s singles semi-final clashes. Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev played for over five hours on the court, with the former winning in five sets. Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic’s match also went on five sets, finishing in four hours.

Jessica Pegula says best-of-five sets will lead to demand for increment in prize money

For several months on tour, one of the hot topics has been the hectic schedule. Players in the ATP and WTA have argued that there needs to be a reduction in the number of mandatory tournaments and that they are forced to play too much tennis, giving them no time outside of the sport.

However, with the current debate about women playing best-of-five sets in Australian Open singles, Jessica Pegula has added her voice to the issue. During the aforementioned conversation, the American star revealed that if women have to best-of-five sets from the quarter-finals, that means the prize money has to increase:

I think they should make it the same. If we are going to go three out of five, I think it needs to be switched to the men to make it the same. I also feel like prize money would have to go up. I think if they are going to make a drastic decision like that, it’s going to totally change the entire women’s Grand Slam format, then I think there needs to be something to balance that out.

Pegula reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open but fell to eventual champion Elena Rybakina in straight sets. The 32-year-old had not dropped a set at the tournament until the last four. She’s still seeking her maiden Grand Slam title on tour and has reached the final only once, at the 2024 US Open.

Also Read: Iva Jovic’s ‘Biggest Win’ of Australian Open Campaign was ‘Speaking to Novak Djokovic’ About Her Game

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