Tennis Australia CEO Calls for Shorter Men’s Grand Slam Matches

Andrew Abdo, chief executive of Tennis Australia, said the sport should explore “different permutations” for Grand Slam formats, including reducing or eliminating best-of-five men’s singles matches. Speaking at the SportNXT conference in Melbourne, Abdo argued that lengthy matches must be weighed against competing sports that vie for younger audiences with limited viewing time. He framed the issue as a commercial one, noting that “sport is entertainment” and that the product “has to evolve.”

New York Times

Abdo succeeded Craig Tiley, who in January advocated expanding best-of-five sets to women’s matches from the Australian Open quarter-finals onward. Tiley’s position was that “all the research shows interest grows as the match goes on,” suggesting that longer matches could boost engagement. The two leaders therefore represent opposing views on whether Grand Slam formats should become longer or shorter.

New York Times

Abdo’s remarks emphasized the need to attract younger viewers, citing the five-hour-27-minute men’s semifinal between Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev—the longest in tournament history—as an example of matches that may be too time-intensive. He also referenced Novak Djokovic’s four-hour-nine-minute semifinal win over Jannik Sinner. Currently, men play best-of-five sets at all four Grand Slams, while women play best-of-three.

New York Times

Tiley, in contrast, maintained that extending women’s matches would generate greater interest, arguing that longer contests keep audiences engaged. Both executives acknowledge the sport’s need to evolve, but they differ on whether that evolution means longer or shorter formats.

New York Times

• “Maybe in the future slams at the different rounds or at different lengths of duration, maybe we’re not playing best of 5 all the way through, maybe the point scoring system changes,” — Andrew Abdo, tennis australia chief

New York Times

• “All the research shows interest grows as the match goes on,” — Craig Tiley, at Tennis Australia in August

New York Times