Overview
- Novak Djokovic publicly outlined the proposal this week to make sets first-to-four games, remove advantage scoring, and use shortened best-of-five matches to keep contests near two hours.
- Reactions at the Canadian Open were mixed: Ben Shelton called the idea “cool” and said he would try it, Joao Fonseca—who has played four-game sets at Next Gen events—said he did not mind but suggested Djokovic’s age might explain his push, and Kim Clijsters strongly rejected the change to protect marathon matches and tradition.
- The proposal builds on existing experiments such as the ATP Next Gen Finals, Fast4 and UTS formats that use four-game sets, no-ad scoring and quicker tiebreaks, so the concept has precedent among players and organisers.
- No governing body or Grand Slam organiser has adopted Djokovic’s recommendations and major hurdles remain: entrenched tradition, broadcaster contracts, tournament interests and the politics of changing scoring at the Slams.
- If taken up, the change could shorten match time, ease players’ schedules and reduce physical strain, but it would also remove long, narrative-building contests that drive fan interest and commercial value, so upcoming discussions and possible trial events will determine whether the idea advances.