Players on the World Tennis Association (WTA) Tour offered a ​range of opinions on Tuesday on the idea of women’s matches becoming best-of-five sets from ‌the quarter-finals onward at Grand Slam events, a concept backed by newly-named United States Tennis Association Chief Executive Officer Craig Tiley.

Women’s tennis consists of best-of-three set matches, while men’s matches at Grand Slam events are best-of-five.

Tiley, the longtime head of the Australian Open renowned for championing ​innovation in the sport, has argued that research shows interest grows as a match goes on.

Iga ​Swiatek, who has won six majors, did not understand why the sport would want to ⁠make matches longer in an era of ever-shrinking attention spans.

“It’s a weird approach in the world where ​everything is becoming faster. So I don’t know if the audience honestly would like ​that,” she tells reporters at Indian Wells.

She also voiced concerns that there could be a dip in quality as players get tired.

“I don’t know if we would be able to keep the quality for five sets. Men are more physically strong and they can handle it better. Also, we have never practiced in a way to prepare for that, so we would need to change ​our whole calendar, because the Grand Slams would be so tough that I don’t think we would have time to ‌prepare for ⁠any other tournaments,” she ​adds.

Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina echoed Swiatek’s concerns.

“You start in one format, and then it gets longer, so mentally, to be ready to play so many sets if it goes to that point, I think it’s not easy. It’s a tricky topic, and me, as a player, I would say I wouldn’t ​want to play three out ​of five, to be ⁠honest,” she says.

Other players said the change would play to their strengths.

“It probably would favour me because I’m physically up there with the best, but I probably wouldn’t want to see that happen, and if it ​were to ⁠happen, I would prefer it to be the whole tournament, not just the quarters. I think changing the format in the middle of the tournament defeats the purpose of the playing field,” says Coco Gauff, the winner ​of three majors.

Power hitter Aryna Sabalenka enthusiastically backs the concept.

“Yeah, let’s ⁠do ​that,” says the world number one, who has won four Grand ​Slam events.

“I feel like I would have probably more Grand Slams. I feel like physically I’m really strong, and I’m pretty confident that ​my body can handle that. So let’s do it,” she adds.

—Reuters—