Nick Kyrgios thinks it’s time for tennis to get rid of the best-of-five-set format in at least some capacity as the Australian proposes to have best-of-three set Grand Slam matches until the quarterfinal stage.
In the past, Masters finals used to be best-of-five but that was changed in 2008. After that, the Olympics were left as the only tennis tournament outside Grand Slams where a best-of-five-set match could be seen. But after the 2016 Rio Olympics, the ITF also decided not to use the best-of-five-set format in men’s final matches anymore.
Considering that players have been very critical of schedule over the last few years, some used that as an argument that it’s also time for tennis to call an end to the current format used in Slams and help players that way. However, there haven’t been any indications that it would change anytime soon.
Now, Kyrgios has a 50/50 solution – have a quicker format in the opening rounds and switch to a longer one in the latter stages. Explaining why, the 2022 Wimbledon finalist pretty much said that best-of-five only makes matches longer while the favorites are the ones who end on the winning side 99 percent of time. But when the best of the best are left, then there is a reason to have an extended format.
“I would make Grand Slams best of three up until the quarterfinals. I think it would save us a lot of effort on scheduling. You know the first week’s scheduling gets out of control with both the men’s side and the women’s side playing best of five and sometimes the women’s matches go long, best of three. I mean, men’s matches finishing till 2-3 AM, it’s just not sustainable,” Kyrgios explained at The AO Show.
“I think if you made it best of three until the quarterfinals, you’d see some guys break through to the quarterfinals. Obviously then the better players would end up winning best of five anyway. So I think a best of three until the quarterfinals and from then on, best of five. That’s what I would immediately change at a Grand Slam.
“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 going to come back and win it.’ It’s actually boring. Where like if Novak goes down a set or even when Li Tu, he won a set against Alcaraz early on, that was one set all and then it’s one set, that could change Li’s entire career. He beats Alcaraz on center court and you become a name.”
Nick Kyrgios© Nick Kyrgios/Instagram – Fair Use
Kyrgios ‘hates’ covering Novak Djokovic’s Slam matches
While recovering from his wrist surgery, the Australian worked as a tennis analyst and commentator during this year’s Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open.
As you probably know, Djokovic didn’t have a great Slam season, having made only final and going without a single Major title in a season for the first time since 2017. Not only that the Serb didn’t win Grand Slams this year, but he also struggled in earlier rounds of Majors.
And covering some of those matches was a frustrating thing for Kyrgios.
“I’ve done a lot of Novak matches and he frustrates the hell out of me because I hate doing his matches early on in Slams. Because he just plays around with his food for like four hours and I’m like ‘I could’ve been in my hotel an hour and a half ago,’ and he’ll be up two sets to love. Then he’ll lose the third and start complaining and then he’ll go to his box, and there will be a 7-6 in the fourth and I’m like ‘dude, do you just enjoy keeping me here’, because he knows that I’m in there and then he starts losing focus. He frustrates the hell out of me, I hate doing Novak’s matches,” the 29-year-old said.
Meanwhile, if everything goes well, we won’t be seeing Kyrgios in the booth next year because is set to finally return to tennis after being out for the past two years.
Last week, the seven-time ATP champion confirmed that his comeback would be launched in the opening week of the new season at the Brisbane International, where he made it all the way in 2018. After Brisbane, he is also slated to make his Slam comeback in front of his home fans at the Australian Open.
When it comes to his comeback goals, Kyrgios has already stated several times that he is returning to try to win a Grand Slam.