Kyrgios calls for Grand Slams to adopt best-of-three sets for men’s singles till quarter-final round

Former Wimbledon runner-up Nick Kyrgios, who will return to the tour at the start of the new season after missing nearly two years due to injuries, has called for Grand Slam matches to be best-of-three sets format until the quarter-finals.

The 29-year-old, who is set to play the Brisbane International in the first week of 2025, made his comments on ‘The Sit-Down podcast’.

“I think best-of-three (sets) up until the quarter-finals, and from then on it’s best-of-five. That’s what I would immediately change at a Grand Slam,” Kyrgios said on the podcast, as quoted by the Australian Open website.

“If you made it best-of-three (sets) up until the quarter-finals, you’d see some guys break through to the quarter-finals, but then obviously the better players would end up winning best-of-five. And the first week would be more exciting… How many times have we seen one of the best players in the draw lose the first set and you’re just like, he’s gonna come back and win it anyway?”

“When Li Tu won a set against (Carlos) Alcaraz early on (at the US Open). Now it’s one set all, and then it’s one set (to go) – that could change Li’s entire career. He beats Alcaraz on the Centre Court at the US Open – you become a name. I think that would be a cool thing to change.”

What other sport can you get your favourite female athlete and your favourite male athlete competing on the same side of the net, for good prize money?

Kyrgios added that such a change would also help the tournament organisers with the scheduling of matches in the first week.

“I think it would save us a lot of effort on scheduling; (in) the first week scheduling gets out of control,” the former world No 13 said. “With the men’s side playing best-of-five and sometimes the women’s matches go long best-of-three, I mean, men’s matches aren’t finishing until like 2 or 3am and it’s just not sustainable, I don’t think.”

Kyrgios calls for more mixed doubles events

The Australian, who also worked as a television commentator while being on the sidelines, added that he would also like to see mixed doubles events at the bigger events outside of the Grand Slams.

“What other sport can you get your favourite female athlete and your favourite male athlete competing on the same side of the net, for good prize money? It’s not possible. Like, you don’t see it in any other sport really,” Kyrgios said. “So at Masters events, instead of men’s doubles and women’s doubles, it should just be mixed.”

“There’s plenty of good players I’d love to play with, past and present. I’ve had the honour of playing with Serena and Venus (Williams). I would have loved to have played with Ash Barty at some stage. I think she was by far one of the most talented female players to ever play the game. I think we would have done some damage on the court, for sure.”

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