By Richard Pagliaro | Thursday, October 1, 2026
Photo credit: Shaun Brooks/CameraSport
Alexander Zverev has stepped into the major debate.
Reigning Roland Garros and US Open champion Zverev said playing best-of-five set major matches is part of Grand Slam history and should not be shortened to best-of-three sets. New Tennis Australia CEO Andrew Abdo recently suggested that majors could eventually experiment with shorter formats in some rounds, though Abdo later downplayed that potential move.
Zverev adamantly opposes shortening major matches asserting winning a Grand Slam title should not be easy.
“I think winning a Grand Slam is one of the hardest things in sport because we play five sets, otherwise we could just play Masters events and add four more Masters to the year,” Zverev told the media in Beijing. “A Grand Slam is different because we play best-of-five. It’s history. It’s part of what we do, part of why we physically prepare.”
One reason some executives and players have advocated shortening Grand Slam matches to best-of-three-sets is the argument that younger fans don’t have the time or attention spans to sit through four-hour matches. Zverev shot that claim down pointing to rising TV ratings and attendance for both the Australian Open and US Open, which both featured major marathon matches this season.
“I don’t agree with the whole debate that attention span and all that because the Australian Open just had record numbers this year,” Zverev said. “The US Open just had record numbers this year. I kind of don’t agree with it because I think the sport of tennis is growing.
“I don’t know a single player who would like to play best-of-three sets. Yes, maybe Novak wants to play
best-of-three because of course he’s getting a bit older now. I think if you would have asked him this 10 years ago or 15 years ago, for sure not.”
A courageous Carlos Alcaraz overcame apparent mid-match cramping, twice vomited into his towel, rallied from 3-5 down in the final set and reeled off four games in a row fending off Zverev 6-4, 7-6(5), 6-7(3), 6-7(4), 7-5 in a mind-blowing Melbourne marathon semifinal last January. The five hour, 27-minute epic is the second longest Grand Slam semifinal in Open Era history. It will go down as a match for the ages.
After his win in Tokyo, Alcaraz asserted shortening Slam matches is an act that “would just be killing the legacy of Grand Slams.”
“I think the beauty of the Grand Slams are playing the best of five,” Alcaraz said. “If we take that away and play the best of three, I think we would just be killing the legacy of the Grand Slams and killing the Grand Slams.”
Zverev concurs with the former world No. 1.
“It’s history. It’s the toughest thing to win in our sport because we play best-of-five sets,” Zverev said. “It’s physically one of the most extreme things that you can go through. And no, I don’t support it, just to clarify.”
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