Iga Swiatek has been backed to be one of the beneficiaries of a potential rule change to women’s tennis that could see them compete to three sets.

For now, women must win two sets as opposed to the three needed by their male counterparts, but it was suggested during the last Grand Slam that the rule could soon change.

Craig Tiley, tournament director for the Australian Open, said interest in matches increases the longer it goes on, making the possible five-setter a more appealing product.

With that in mind, Tiley suggested tennis needed to “evolve” with the possibility of five sets for women as well as men.

“All the research shows interest grows as the match goes on,” he said.

“As a sport, we need to evolve.”

“There are going to be people who say this is ridiculous and others who say it is a good idea. The idea is to have a discussion.”

Should that rule come into place, former World No.1 Kim Clijsters suggested the high-intensity play of Swiatek would put her at an advantage.

“Craig said at the end of the tournament that he was looking into some potential big-picture adjustments in the coming years,” Clijsters said. “Getting rid of warm-up time and let-best of five sets for women from the quarterfinals on.

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“It would definitely benefit a few players. The first one I can think of is Iga Swiatek, I think, who has that really high-intensity kind of tennis built into her game now, and I think it would be really hard to beat her in three sets.”

Clijsters though said she herself would not be a fan of five sets, suggesting it would be tough for players to cope.

“Maybe you have a different opinion about this, but the five-setter, when I heard him say that, I was like, ooh, I kind of like that idea. I think I wouldn’t like it as a player,” she said.

As for eliminating the warm-ups, the Belgian said that time can be necessary for a player to focus themselves.

“Let me go back to the first one,” she said. “I think I have more of an issue with no warm-up, because we can’t warm up right before.

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“A lot of times, those five minutes are also really important, I feel, for me to adjust if you’re playing a night match, to adjust your eyes a little bit to the light, to get a little feel for what the background is like, because we don’t always play on the same court.

“So to me, in my time of five minutes, were, I think, very important to get your nerves a little bit under control, but also to adjust to the weather changes. You know, sunlight, wind, those few minutes of the warm-up, I think they’re important for players.”

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