Iga Swiatek questions whether five-set matches would benefit women’s tennis

Swiatek shares why she is against women’s Grand Slam change

Iga Swiatek has voiced her concerns about the challenges women would face if asked to play best-of-five set matches at Grand Slams.

The idea was floated by Craig Tiley, who suggested introducing five-set matches for women starting from the quarterfinal stage, following two memorable men’s semifinals in Melbourne.

Swiatek was asked about her stance on the issue during Indian Wells and gave a clear answer.

Swiatek raises concerns over five-set switch for women

Speaking to the media, Swiatek said: “I think honestly it’s a weird approach in the world where everything is becoming faster, you know.

“So I don’t know if the audience honestly would like that. Also, like, I don’t know if we would be able to keep the quality for five sets.

“Well, that’s a fact, like, men are more physically strong and they can handle it for sure better.

“Also, we have never practiced in a way to prepare for that, so we would need to change, I think, our whole calendar because the Grand Slams would be so tough that I don’t think we would have honestly time to prepare for any other tournaments.

“So I think it would change a lot. I don’t think it would change anything for good. I don’t know what’s the reason, honestly, for this. You know?”

The argument was then made to Swiatek that fans could feel they were getting more value with longer matches since only two of those later-round matches at Melbourne reached three sets this year.

Iga replied: “There is already more tennis with extending with the Sunday so I guess we can extend forever.

But we are the ones who will play and will play and the question is if we’re actually going to handle it or not and this might be tricky.”

This was certainly an understandable viewpoint from Swiatek as someone who has been pushing for changes to make things easier on players around the WTA calendar.

If matches get longer at Slams it will only add pressure on players while making things even more congested through their schedule across both tours.

Iga Swiatek has enjoyed plenty of success at Indian Wells

Right now, though, Swiatek’s attention will be fully on her matches at Indian Wells, where the familiar best-of-three format remains in place.

The Polish star enters the tournament as the second seed, having previously claimed titles there in both 2022 and 2024.

On both occasions, she got the better of Maria Sakkari in the final. The first time was a 6-4, 6-1 win, and she followed that up with a more dominant 6-4, 6-0 scoreline two years later.

Sakkari isn’t alone in recent struggles at this event. World number one Aryna Sabalenka has also come up short in two Indian Wells finals.

Swiatek heads into this year’s tournament on the back of a loss to Sakkari again. The Greek player beat her in straight sets during their Qatar Open quarterfinal meeting.

Despite starting her season by leading Poland to victory at the United Cup, Swiatek’s Australian Open run ended with a quarterfinal loss to eventual champion Elena Rybakina.

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