No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka not interested in best-of-five-set matches in women’s tennis

LONDON (AP) — Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka wouldn’t want women’s tennis to move to best-of-five-set matches at Grand Slam tournaments — like the men play — fearing higher injury risks.

“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,” Sabalenka said following her two-set first-round victory at Wimbledon on Monday.

“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.”

Women play best-of-three sets at all tournaments. Men play the best-of-five format at Grand Slam tournaments, and best of three elsewhere.

There’s no widespread movement for the change, but it’s an occasional talking point — if women’s tennis should move to best of five at the later stages of the major tournaments.

Sabalenka was asked about the French Open final in which Carlos Alcaraz beat Jannik Sinner in a five-setter that lasted 5 1/2 hours.

“For someone watching, it’s amazing to see five hours of great tennis,” Sabalenka said. “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.”

No. 2-ranked Coco Gauff expressed similar sentiments about best-of-five sets on Saturday.

“It would favor me just from a physicality standpoint. But I do think it would kind of be a big change for the tour. I think it would be fine just keeping it like how it is,” the American said.

Sabalenka beat 194th-ranked Carson Branstine 6-1, 7-5 in 73 minutes on Monday.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis