While over a month has passed since Aryna Sabalenka took on Nick Kyrgios, the discussion about men's and women's tennis overlapping hasn't died down. Madison Keys certainly had an interesting take on Grand Slam tennis rules.

Keys took her exit from Melbourne after losing to Jessica Pegula on January 26. However, the two reunited for the Player’s Box podcast on February 3.

On the podcast, Keys said the men should play 3 out of 5 sets in the quarterfinals if the women play best-of-five sets at the Grand Slams.

“I think we are all capable of doing it. But I don’t think I would sign up to do more”, Keys said. “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.”

This discussion happened after AO director Craig Tiley’s remark, made on February 1. Who said that “women should play five-set matches”, mentioning a wish to implement this rule from 2027. However, both Keys and Pegula criticised this.

“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”, Pegula stated. However, they weren’t the only ones to voice it.

Aryna Sabalenka Ruled Out the 5-Set Fiasco

Per ESPN, Aryna Sabalenka also opted against this idea in 2025. While she agreed on the beneficial part, she ruled this out due to the high injury risks and strain it could cause to the woman's body.

“Probably physically, I'm one of the strongest ones, so maybe it would benefit me. But I think I'm not ready to play five sets”, she said, "I think it's too much on the woman's body. I think we're not ready for this amount of tennis. I think it would increase the amount of injuries. So, I think this is not something I would consider."

She also called the French Open five-setter final between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner a "crazy match". While she admitted that it would be enjoyable to watch five hours of great tennis, it wouldn’t be as good to play it.

While Tiley’s suggestion has sparked many reactions, there’s no rule against changing the set numbers in the Women’s Grand Slam. Do you think there’s a possibility for women playing 5-sets in 2027? Let us know in the comments!

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Written by

Deblina Roy

Edited by

Sagnik Bagchi