Time for women to play 5 sets.

[Aussie in exile]

If they want equal pay they should be prepared to play the best of sets in Grands slams

Time for women to play five-set finals

Ash Barty’s win was a memorable moment for Australian tennis – a first home champion for 44 years. But as a grand-slam final? Hardly outstanding. Now imagine that the match had continued

www.theage.com.au

 

[BobbyMorri]

Did we really need a 3rd set.........I think we all knew where it was going. You don't need 5 hours of tennis or 5 sets for it to be great. There have been great finals which were shorter. Nothing worse than a 3rd set when someone is clearly going to win 99% of the time

the "they get equal pay, so they should play 5 sets" is a stupid argument. It is not practical for one, especially in the early rounds. For me, The men's game and the women game is different. You don't have servebots, there are more breaks of serve. (35% compared to 24%). For me, the women game is more taxing with less aces. Halep and Davis went for 3 hours and 45 mins several years ago. They were exhausted afterwards and though Halep made the final, just think if she had to do that again and again.

The women tour supplements the men's tour. The fact it is equal pay and the fact there is a professional women tour is something tennis should be really proud of. The WTA can even outrate the ATP if the circumstances allow it. The women, on the tour, get paid less than the men. Nothing wrong with that. But on grand slams, it is important revenue for the women, who can outperform the men in terms of numbers. You can make a case that this is helped by the fact they play shorter matches.

 

[yaco55]

The bigger issue is the women's calendar - They've had one tournament in the two weeks since the completion of the Oz Open - They should do better in the second half of the year with some of the Asian swing happening in 2022 - China is an interesting case as they are re-opening for international sporting events - The world table tennis championship are being held in April while some UCI cycling events are slated for October.

 

[torq]

This may getting slightly off-topic, but the equal pay (or rather, more equitable pay) debate has arisen in other women's sports like AFLW. If the girls are playing footy in front of 600 people, they have to accept that they're semi-professionals playing more for love than money.

In tennis, it comes down to the same thing - what the market dictates, not time spent on court. Who sells the most tickets, who draws the most viewers, etc. It's the reason why Rafael Nadal's AO paycheck was several million dollars and wheelchair quad winner Sam Schroder won less than $100k.

Personally, I've attended WTA events in England because the women's game is more relatable for a bog-standard club player like me. Some women's matches over five sets would be riveting, but many would be interminable. Even so, I'd like to see it introduced at some of the Grand Slams, perhaps from the quarter finals on. Fitness and stamina would be as crucial as it is in the men's game. Make 'em earn it.

 

[JackNah_8]

b05 will make it difficult for scheduling especially night matches and TV networks might not be happy with broadcasting such long games

 

[Roobs321]

b05 will make it difficult for scheduling especially night matches and TV networks might not be happy with broadcasting such long games

My first thought too, the scheduling would need a complete rethink. Even this year we saw the women often play early in the heat, and with bo5 you'd have to reconsider that. Tennis bo5 is a bit like test cricket and 4 round golf. We adore it, we grew up with it, but it is a bit old world in design and i can't really see a shift from bo3 to bo5 happening again for men (outside existing) or women.

Last AO mens doubles final that was bo5 was 2001. Last time QF-SF-F was bo5 was 1999 (later when more space in scheduling I guess). French Open last had bo5 doubles in 1989 (SF-F). USO last had bo5 doubles in 1992 (QF-SF-F). Wimbledon still has bo5 from R1 (2021 from R3 due to rain delays in the opening two rounds), which Kyrgios commented upon after his AO win. If bo5 mens doubles nowadays is long gone outside Wimbledon, well, women singles going bo5 just seems implausible.

 

[yaco55]

The one women's tournament which should be BOF should be their season ending championship - From memory they had BO5 two or three times in the 1990's.

 

[JackNah_8]

 

[Aussie in exile]

He makes a good point that is women want to same money as men in grand slams they do what the men do and play the best of 5 sets

 

[mouncey2franklin]

Why shouldn't wheelchair players get the same money as the womens singles and mens singles?

Because they don't bring in as many viewers and dollars?

Because they are not as talented?

Because their matches are shorter?

All of those things apply to womens tennis when compared to mens.

 

[BobbyMorri]

Equal sets yet not equal pay............

Perhaps it is not based on sets played but more on how popular one is. And I would say the women are as popular as men at grand slam level.

 

[Aussie in exile]

Equal sets yet not equal pay............

Perhaps it is not based on sets played but more on how popular one is. And I would say the women are as popular as men at grand slam level.

My money would be on any man in the top 50 would beat any women in the top 10 over 5 sets

 

[BobbyMorri]

My money would be on any man in the top 50 would beat any women in the top 10 over 5 sets

and?

It's not on how good the women are to men. it is all about the eyes watching the product. In the last few years, with Osaka, Raducanu, Serena(still) and Barty, the finals of the women have been as well watched as the men. The ratings prove that in the US, UK and here.

Quite simply, the 490th man would probably beat a top 10 women. But you wouldn't be able to name someone ranked around there, but you would know all those names I named quoted above.

on a different subject, there were only 2 women named in the top 100 earners of 2021 by Forbes for sport. They were Osaka and Serena. Only 2 out of 100 and both are from this sport. pay equality should be something tennis should be proud of and use to its advantage more often. Hence the news of a new Hopman Cup should be welcomed IMO.

It not a token, it was hard-earned by the women at grand slam levels. levels of inequality still exist at tour-level but such is, that's the market at the moment.

 

[Aussie in exile]

and?

It's not on how good the women are to men. it is all about the eyes watching the product. In the last few years, with Osaka, Raducanu, Serena(still) and Barty, the finals of the women have been as well watched as the men. The ratings prove that in the US, UK and here.

Quite simply, the 490th man would probably beat a top 10 women. But you wouldn't be able to name someone ranked around there, but you would know all those names I named quoted above.

on a different subject, there were only 2 women named in the top 100 earners of 2021 by Forbes for sport. They were Osaka and Serena. Only 2 out of 100 and both are from this sport. pay equality should be something tennis should be proud of and use to its advantage more often. Hence the news of a new Hopman Cup should be welcomed IMO.

It not a token, it was hard-earned by the women at grand slam levels. levels of inequality still exist at tour-level but such is, that's the market at the moment.

Look it all goes back to women wanting the same pay as men, and they should be prepared to play the best of 5 sets instead of 3 like the men in grand slams

 

[Evolved1]

and?

It's not on how good the women are to men. it is all about the eyes watching the product. In the last few years, with Osaka, Raducanu, Serena(still) and Barty, the finals of the women have been as well watched as the men. The ratings prove that in the US, UK and here.

Quite simply, the 490th man would probably beat a top 10 women. But you wouldn't be able to name someone ranked around there, but you would know all those names I named quoted above.

on a different subject, there were only 2 women named in the top 100 earners of 2021 by Forbes for sport. They were Osaka and Serena. Only 2 out of 100 and both are from this sport. pay equality should be something tennis should be proud of and use to its advantage more often. Hence the news of a new Hopman Cup should be welcomed IMO.

It not a token, it was hard-earned by the women at grand slam levels. levels of inequality still exist at tour-level but such is, that's the market at the moment.

I'd argue that time on court is an equally important factor, and wouldn't be against giving women the option of deciding whether to accept the same terms (5 set grand slams, etc) as the men, then formulating pay based on

Viewer numbers x time on court = pay

 

[yaco55]

It's all about hw much the sponsors and TV networks are willing to pay for the product - Except for the ITF Grand slams which pay equal prizemoney and a few combined tournaments which pay different amounts of prizemoney, the ATP and the WTA are separate tours, so will never have the same prizemoney.

 

[Blue1980]

Look it all goes back to women wanting the same pay as men, and they should be prepared to play the best of 5 sets instead of 3 like the men in grand slams

The women are willing to play 5 sets, the issue is the tv networks and event organisers who don’t want it.

In saying that, surely the final of grand slams would be worthwhile commercially in the womens as best of five.

 

[Goosecat]

Actually I'd like to see both sexes play best of 3 sets. Times move on and peoples desire to regularly sit for 6,7 or even 11 hours to watch a game has diminished around the globe in general. The introduction of shorter versions of other games is an example of meeting the changing lifestyle choices and time allocation.
Just make them all best of 3. A couple of hours playing 3 sets is more than enough to decide the best on the day and will ease some of the scheduling issues.
I haven't researched it at all but I'd be surprised if the games long history ever involved such marathons as we get regularly today with the professionalism, fitness and larger racquets etc enabling continually more retrieval. Bring it back to best of 3 sets for everyone.