WTA players split on five-set suggestion with Aryna Sabalenka saying women ‘not ready’
Aryna Sabalenka has poured cold water on the idea of women playing five-set matches, suggesting she is “not ready” for the “too demanding” endurance test.
A recent suggestion again mooted the idea of women drawing level with the men by playing five-set matches in grand slams with the example of Carlos Alcaraz’s epic win over Jannik Sinner in the French Open final raised as a plus for the elongated games.
Sabalenka though said that while she feels she stands the most to gain, she believes the task is too much for the female body.
“Possibly, playing best of five sets would benefit me because I am one of the physically strongest,” the world No. 1 said.
“But even so, I do not think I am ready for it. It is too demanding for the female body; women are not prepared to play that amount of tennis, and injuries would increase significantly.”
“So I think this is not something I would consider. I’ll leave this thing for guys to handle.”
Asked if she was jealous watching the Roland Garros battle, the Belrugain said no and that she did not want to be on the court for five hours.
“I was happy to see that long, high-quality match,” she said. “For someone watching, it’s amazing
to see five hours of great tennis. It’s so fun to watch.
“But I’m not really jealous to stay there for five hours as a player. I don’t know how many days they needed to recover after that crazy match. It was an unbelievable match.”
One player who is open to the idea is world No. 10 Emma Navarro who said she believes she has the fitness and endurance levels for the task.
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“It’s interesting. I think for me, I would probably feel pretty good playing five sets. I think I feel good about my fitness level and endurance level.
“I would be curious to see how the tour would hold up playing five sets. I think it would be kind of fun. I would be curious to see how the women would hold up playing for five hours, like those guys Sinner and Alcaraz.
“It was an insane display of endurance and fitness level. I would be curious to see how the ladies would handle it.
“But I think it would be kind of fun to see.”
The idea of women playing five sets is nothing new and indeed as far back as 2014, Serena Williams suggested the players offered to do so but that the tour rejected the idea.
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