Madison Keys certainly didn’t have the Australian Open that she would have hoped for, falling well short in her title defence.
Keys superbly triumphed at the 2025 Australian Open, clinching her first Grand Slam title with a final win over Aryna Sabalenka.
WTA number one Sabalenka reached and lost the final once again this year, but Keys failed to make it past round four in Melbourne.
Keys has fallen to 15th in the world rankings following the hard-court Grand Slam, where she was knocked out by Jessica Pegula.
How do you rate Jessica Pegula’s chances of ever winning a Grand Slam?
Madison Keys would want men and women to be equal at Grand Slams
Off the court, American duo Pegula and Keys are very close friends, with the two WTA stars even hosting a podcast together.
And they have now discussed the possibility of women playing best-of-five sets at Grand Slams in the latest episode after it was floated by Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley.
Keys said on The Player’s Box Podcast: “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 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’.
“But if you look at the men’s draw, the amount of times that top seeds would have ‘lost’ because they went down two sets to love or two sets to one, that would have been over and you would have had way more upsets and things like that.
“So I feel like if you want to do that, I think it should be equal opportunity on both sides.”
Pegula added: “That is what I have always said. I just think three out of five is easier in a sense, because you have more time to come back as the top players.
“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.”
Who wins more Grand Slams in their career – Elena Rybakina or Aryna Sabalenka?
Jessica Pegula shocked by Australian Open five-set suggestion
The discussion around women potentially playing three out of five sets comes after the intriguing announcement from Tiley.
He has suggested the idea could be proposed and that discussions with the players could take place for an introduction in 2027.
Reacting to that suggestion from Tiley, a shocked Pegula commented: “I can’t believe he said that though.
“You sent it and I was like is this fake news? I can’t believe he even mentioned it. What did he say, there’s no rule against it?”
The potential change would indeed focus on the quarterfinals onwards, with men already playing five-set matches throughout the whole tournament.
Women currently play three-set matches at Grand Slams, but that could all change this time next year, although it appears there is little support for the idea right now.
