Iga Swiatek has highlighted the difficulties involved in women playing best-of-five set matches at Grand Slams.
Her WTA rival Coco Gauff is against five sets for women, an idea that was proposed at the Australian Open earlier this year.
Its former chief Craig Tiley proposed five-sets for women from the quarterfinals onwards of Grand Slams, having been inspired by the two thrilling men’s semifinals in Melbourne.
Swiatek has now joined the debate, having been asked at Indian Wells if she is for or against the proposed change.
Do you think women should play best-of-five set matches?
Iga Swiatek unsure if women can keep quality for five sets
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?”
It was then proposed to Swiatek that fans could get more value for money with five sets, with only two Australian Open matches from the fourth round onwards having gone to three sets.
She responded: “There is already more tennis with extending with the Sunday, so I guess we can extend forever.
“But we are the ones that will play, and the question is we’re actually going to handle it or not, and I think this might be tricky, this five-court situation.”
It was certainly a reasonable response from Swiatek, who has long been a proponent for an improved WTA calendar.
Lengthier matches at Grand Slams would definitely not help in that regard, although intriguingly it could make the women’s draw more competitive and entertaining.
At the same time, however, more fatigued players would undoubtedly lead to a drop in quality, which would go against the aim of better entertainment.
Aryna Sabalenka or Iga Swiatek… who do you prefer? 🤔
Iga Swiatek boasts fantastic Indian Wells history
For now, Swiatek will be firmly focused on clinching success from her best-of-three set matches at Indian Wells.
The Polish superstar is the second seed at the WTA 1000 event in California, which she won in both 2022 and 2024.
She defeated Maria Sakkari in both finals, securing a 6-4, 6-1 victory first time out before triumphing 6-4, 6-0.
Like Sakkari, world number one Aryna Sabalenka has also reached and lost two Indian Wells finals in recent times.
Intriguingly, Swiatek enters Indian Wells on the back of a defeat to Sakkari, who won their Qatar Open quarterfinal clash.
She started her 2026 season in superb fashion by winning the United Cup with Poland, but that was followed by an Australian Open quarterfinal defeat to eventual champion Elena Rybakina.
