Why it’s time for five -way letters in women’s tennis

What would I like to see it, the final between the American Ellen Roosevelt and the Irish Mabel Esmonde Cahill, during the American tennis championships of 1891. The two were opposites. Roosevelt, a niece of the American president, became A Model Girl named. Cahill went on for Tomboy.

At that time, tennis matches were not yet broadcast on TV, but the New York Times Was there. « A large audience witnessed the game, which was beautiful from start to finish, » writes the newspaper. « Every point was fought with a wonderful tenacity to the end. »

At that time, women still played Best of Five-Finals at the American championships. Nobody looked up of the final score – 6–4, 6–1, 4–6 and 6–3 in favor of Cahill. In 1902 the tournament switched to Best of three, Because heavy physical exertion for women was seen as harmful and inappropriate.

Only in 1984 was again best-of-five played. The organization for professional players, the WTA, wanted to experiment with the final of the end -of -year tournament, to increase the stature of women’s tennis. The first six years finals were completed in three or four sets, but in 1990 it came between Monica Seles and Gabriela Sabatini (my idol at the time) to a five -setter. « One of the most beautiful matches in women’s tennis, » said L’Equipe About the game won by Seles: 6-4, 5-7, 3-6, 6-4 and 6-2.

Seles (16) and Sabatini (20) faced each other for almost four hours. Whether the winner was tired, she was asked afterwards. « No, » she said. « But I did get hungry for the end, because I hadn’t had lunch. »

Another much-discussed five-setter was that between Steffi Graf and Martina Hingis in the WTA final of 1996. Graf won 6-3, 4-6, 6-0, 4-6 and 6-0 against the 16-year-old Hingis, who suffered from cramps in the fourth set. She did not underestimate her opponent, said Graf, who had to give her place as number one in the world less than half a year later, after 377 consecutive weeks.

From 1999 there was no longer best-of-five played in the final of the end -of -year tournament. I could not find out why, but it is certain that few words about this turnaround were dirty. In a piece in the New York Times, The number of sets played was not even mentioned about the most notable adjustments that edition. However, Steffi Graf had stopped tennis and that a new tournament sponsor had been found: Sanex.

The argument that five sets are physically heavy after a long season for women will have played a role in the decision to change the set -up. But according to experts, it was more important best-of-five Competitions are more difficult to plan, which is unfavorable commercially. And because women in no grandlam best-of-five Played, the WTA final felt like a strange duck.

The only grand slam that seriously considered switching to five sets is the Australian open. In 1994, Geoff Pollard, director of the Australian Tennisbond, and tournament director Paul McNamee, announced at a meeting that for the 1995 edition for one Best of Five-Final was chosen. The Canberra Times was there and wrote That the criticism of the final between Steffi Graf and Arantxa Sánchez Vicario of 1994 was the deciding factor. He lasted less than an hour and nobody fascinated; Graf won 6-0 and 6-2. With minimal effort, she won 506,000 euros (based on the dollar rate of that time).

A best-of-five-Final would cause « a different dimension », predicted McNamee. There was a lot of prize money at stake, and spectators paid a lot for a ticket. According to Pollard, the decision was well timed, because top players were « athletic and professional enough. » The WTA, the organization for professional tennis players, would applaud the new rule, he said.

Why things went differently remained unclear for a long time. Was it because players were not consulted? Because the WTA was not aware? As a sports journalist the article from the Canberra Times Set X at the beginning of this year, with the request to respond to McNamee, he writes That some top players were before the plan, but « when the tip came to the mark, the top 10 was against it. » The WTA also did not think it was good that only in the final, not with the other rounds, best-of-five was played. « Valid arguments, so we abandoned the plan. »

I wonder what would have happened if the plan had been implemented. Have we been able to save ourselves the decades -long discussion about equal prize money on Grandslams – or that is unfair because men have to work harder for it -? The cynicism of players such as Novak Djokovic, who called sports women « hormones », and demanded more prize money for men. Or the tournament director of Indian Wells, who resigned after his statement that women « ride for the success of men ».

From an emancipatory point of view it is important that women are not inferior to men, Tennis icon Billie Jean King said in a podcast in 2023 in 2023. Or women go best-of-five play at major tournaments, or men keep up best-of-three – The first was her preference. Andy Murray, an advocate of equal payment, sees that. According to the former tennis player, it is not a matter of wages to work. “You train differently if you best-of-five Plays because it requires more from you. Compare it with a training for the 400 meters or 600 meters. They are different sports. ”

On Friday, Amélie Mauresmo, tournament director of Roland Garros, received critical questions about the fact that for the evening sessions on ‘Prime Time’, mostly male duels are programmed. Her defense: the TV contract stipulates that only one competition is broadcast in the evening, and a men’s match of at least three sets often takes longer than a women’s match of at least two. More airtime So.

I was reminded of the interview that they on two years ago The Telegraph gave. As a player, she liked one best-of-five-Final played, she said. And if that added something to women’s tennis, she wanted to « consider it » as a tournament director. What is she waiting for?

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