{"id":887244,"date":"2026-09-10T19:28:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T19:28:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/887244\/"},"modified":"2026-09-10T19:28:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T19:28:13","slug":"australian-open-clarifies-new-ceos-comment-about-ditching-five-set-tennis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/887244\/","title":{"rendered":"Australian Open clarifies new CEO\u2019s comment about ditching five-set tennis"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Australian Open has confirmed it won\u2019t be ditching best-of-five sets after new Tennis Australia boss Andrew Abdo made comments suggesting the change could be on the table. <\/p>\n

Abdo, the former CEO of the NRL, caused a stir this week when he flagged potential changes to tennis\u2019 format and scoring systems<\/a> in wide-ranging comments about the need for the sport to evolve and attract new audiences. <\/p>\n

Consider yourself a sports nerd? Download our new app<\/a> and never miss a headline<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you want to maximise your commercial outcome, we\u2019re in the entertainment game, right?,\u201d he said at the Sport NXT conference.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd sport is entertainment. And clearly there\u2019s unbelievable athleticism involved with the sport at that level. But the rules and the format and the product has to evolve.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd so a short-form version of that, who knows?<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe in the future slams at the different rounds or at different lengths of duration, you know, maybe we\u2019re not playing best of five all the way through, maybe the point scoring system changes.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe there are different permutations to how we engage and entertain audiences without losing the fabric, and what really makes the sport special.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think those are the questions that we need to explore and discover, and I think there\u2019s a place for evolving that.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you listen to the purists, they\u2019ll say, \u2018don\u2019t touch that\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut actually \u2026 if you look at sports around the world, if you\u2019re not thinking about that product in a way that\u2019s contemporary, in a way that\u2019s going to connect with young people, then I think you\u2019re going to be left behind.\u201d<\/p>\n

But on Thursday the Australian Open\u2019s official social media account posted: \u201cWhile innovation is part of the AO\u2019s DNA, five-set tennis is here to stay.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll reveal more on what\u2019s coming to AO 2027 soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tennis fans quickly put two and two together and realised the post was an attempt to clarify Abdo\u2019s comments, which had turned into something of a \u201cPR disaster\u201d. <\/p>\n

Outgoing Tennis Australia boss and Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley had previously flagged potential changes to the format, including best-of-five matches in the women\u2019s draw from the quarterfinal stage onwards.<\/p>\n

The prospect of doing away with five-set matches at grand slams has reared its head with several US Open matches finishing in the early hours in New York, notably Ben Shelton\u2019s epic win over Carlos Alcaraz that went the distance and finished at 3am.<\/p>\n

Similar late-night finishes in Melbourne have prompted discussion about striking the best balance with the schedule of matches at grand slams. <\/p>\n

The Davis Cup ditched best-of-five sets in recent years, tennis at the Olympic Games is best of three sets, as is all ATP and WTA tour events.<\/p>\n

Four-time grand slam champion Jim Courier said ditching advantage points on deuce games would be a potentially less drastic option that could help shorten matches. <\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, I think eventually we are going to have to evolve, and I think the first little move forward will probably and should be, let\u2019s go to no ad scoring, which will shrink the length of matches somewhat,\u201d Courier told the Tennis Channel<\/a>.<\/p>\n

American Frances Tiafoe, a semi-finalist at the US Open, said he was \u201c100 per cent\u201d in favour of best-of-five sets at grand slams. <\/p>\n

\u201cFor the men\u2019s we should stick to three out of five,\u201d Tiafoe said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know where the conversation is going, what people are leaning to. Everyone is going to have an opinion.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve seen so many epics in five-setters. Do I love five-setters? Absolutely not. There\u2019s a lot of times where I\u2019m up two sets to love, I would love to shake hands and go home. But it\u2019s tennis, man.<\/p>\n

\"Dennis<\/p>\n

\u201cI grew up watching so many incredible five-setters. Novak-Rafa, Federer-Rafa, epic five-setters that go on for hours and hours. That\u2019s the history of the game. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou do that, I feel like your slam doesn\u2019t mean as much personally if you get it done in a two-out-of-three format.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Australian Open has become renowned for its innovation including making an event out of the qualifying for the main draw and the $1 million one-point slam, which was a huge hit this year. <\/p>\n

The tournament has announced there will be a cap on the amount of daily ground passes available to ensure a more comfortable fan experience in light of countless attendance records taking Melbourne Park\u2019s infrastructure to capacity. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think in five years\u2019 time, the AO will be the biggest, most successful slam on the planet, and tennis will be the number one played and most popular sport in this country,\u201d Abdo said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Australian Open has confirmed it won\u2019t be ditching best-of-five sets after new Tennis Australia boss Andrew Abdo…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":887245,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[456770,381247,456775,428180,456768,456784,456746,456762,45986,456787,456763,400483,455379,431342,376730,456752,381975,456800,456813,456798,456806,380202,456748,376637,337918,456764,456793,381402,387986,414561,400985,456792,64,172001,187641,63,6571,456766,21693,456786,456754,456758,100541,962,32092,16386,456760,88997,456750,456772,456753,456783,5543,456802,134,456791,72098,456785,379313,456809,456796,456805,456817,47275,56960,384202,191,456812,1474,397460,456771,20764,456816,25723,647,188599,456803,456781,389389,307408,456797,456756,1025,456807,456814,455202,456773,6622,1861,456761,380174,456779,456801,456790,588,85,747,106747,216692,390382,456780,456774,379067,456811,225110,456789,409944,392039,9726,456751,456810,456808,400287,456757,395522,456767,379824,456769,131558,74713,389126,400468,456755,380433,376541,380184,409951,240309,397651,456782,295305,380402,456776,456749,456778,394985,379294,456759,380406,456799,456815,383393,456765,359749,41119,380136,54798,377115,199184,364611,431042,9357,46842,6618,64631,456794,456804,456777,456795,28539,456747,456788],"class_list":["post-887244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-s-comment","tag-s-comments","tag-s-dna","tag-s-draw","tag-s-epic-win","tag-s-infrastructure","tag-s-new-boss","tag-s-official-social-media-account","tag-45986","tag-3am-similar-late-night-finishes","tag-a-pr-disaster","tag-a-cap","tag-a-headline","tag-a-huge-hit","tag-a-lot","tag-a-more-comfortable-fan-experience","tag-a-place","tag-a-potentially-less-drastic-option","tag-a-semi-finalist","tag-a-short-form-version","tag-a-sports-nerd","tag-a-stir","tag-a-two-out-of-three-format","tag-a-way","tag-abdo","tag-advantage-points","tag-all-atp-and-wta-tour-events-four-time-grand-slam-champion-jim-courier","tag-all-the-way","tag-an-attempt","tag-an-event","tag-an-opinion","tag-ao-2027","tag-au","tag-audiences","tag-aus-open","tag-australia","tag-australian-open","tag-australian-open-tournament-director-craig-tiley","tag-ben-shelton","tag-best-of-five-matches","tag-best-of-five-sets","tag-bold-comments","tag-capacity","tag-carlos-alcaraz","tag-cent","tag-comments","tag-countless-attendance-records","tag-courier","tag-daily-ground","tag-deuce-games","tag-different-lengths","tag-different-permutations","tag-discussion","tag-duration","tag-entertainment","tag-epic-five-setters","tag-favour","tag-federer-rafa","tag-five-years","tag-five-set-matches","tag-five-set-tennis","tag-five-setters","tag-format-and-scoring-systems","tag-grand-slams","tag-hands","tag-her-partner","tag-home","tag-hours-and-hours","tag-innovation","tag-its-head","tag-its-innovation","tag-light","tag-man-trinity-rodman","tag-matches","tag-melbourne","tag-melbourne-park","tag-most-popular-sport","tag-most-successful-slam","tag-new-audiences","tag-new-ceo","tag-new-tennis-australia-boss-andrew-abdo","tag-new-tennis-boss","tag-new-york","tag-no-ad-scoring","tag-novak-rafa","tag-our-new-app","tag-outgoing-tennis-australia-boss","tag-part","tag-people","tag-potential-changes","tag-recent-years","tag-several-us-open-matches","tag-so-many-epics","tag-so-many-incredible-five-setters","tag-sport","tag-sports","tag-tennis","tag-tennis-australia","tag-tennis-fans","tag-that-level","tag-that-product","tag-the-1-million-one-point-slam","tag-the-amount","tag-the-ao","tag-the-australian-open","tag-the-best-balance","tag-the-biggest","tag-the-change","tag-the-conversation","tag-the-davis-cup","tag-the-different-rounds","tag-the-distance","tag-the-early-hours","tag-the-entertainment-game","tag-the-fabric","tag-the-first-little-move","tag-the-format","tag-the-former-ceo","tag-the-future","tag-the-game","tag-the-history","tag-the-length","tag-the-main-draw","tag-the-men","tag-the-need","tag-the-nrl","tag-the-number-one","tag-the-olympic-games","tag-the-planet","tag-the-point-scoring-system","tag-the-post","tag-the-product","tag-the-purists","tag-the-qualifying","tag-the-quarterfinal-stage-onwards-the-prospect","tag-the-questions","tag-the-rules","tag-the-schedule","tag-the-sport","tag-the-sport-nxt-conference","tag-the-sport-special","tag-the-table","tag-the-tennis-channel-american-frances-tiafoe","tag-the-tournament","tag-the-us-open","tag-the-women","tag-the-world","tag-this-country","tag-this-week","tag-this-year","tag-three-sets","tag-thursday","tag-tiafoe","tag-time","tag-times","tag-two-and-two","tag-two-sets","tag-unbelievable-athleticism","tag-wide-ranging-comments","tag-young-people","tag-your-commercial-outcome","tag-your-slam"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/887244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp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