Iga Swiatek and Zheng Qinwen both expressed their opinions on the possibility that the women’s singles matches at the Australian Open will adopt a best-of-five-set format starting from the quarter-finals of the 2027 Melbourne Major. However, the Polish and Chinese WTA star largely disagrees with the ideas recently floated by Australian Open chairman Craig Tiley.

Swiatek and Zheng, both now in Doha for the 2026 Qatar Open, were asked to share their thoughts on the subject during their respective press conferences at the first WTA 1000 event of the new tennis season. The former world number one from Poland believes that as everything in the world moves faster and faster, best-of-five sets make matches unnecessarily long and pose a challenge for players to maintain a high level.

“I think the world is accelerating right now and I really don’t think it makes sense for us to play games for so long. Especially when I think it’s going to be difficult to maintain quality throughout the game,” Swiatek said.

Zheng, meanwhile, welcomed the idea, believing she would benefit from it. The former world number four and 2024 Australian Open runner-up said:

“I’m not afraid of five sets. I would say I would benefit from it, and I’ve always wanted to know what it feels like to play five sets, so maybe one day I’ll get a chance to try it.”

‘It will change throughout the season’ – Iga Swiatek on best-of-five sets could become the norm in women’s singles at all four Grand Slams

During her press conference, Iga Swiatek It has also been suggested that things could become complicated in terms of schedule if the best-of-five-set format is normalized in women’s singles tournaments covering all four Grand Slam tournaments. The six-time Grand Slam champion is one of the greatest in his own right Outspoken critic of tennis calendar and believe if Craig Tiley’s Big Idea The Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open are implemented uniformly.

“Honestly, I’ve never played a game this long, so I don’t know how my body is going to react. I think that’s going to change throughout the season as well, because we need to plan everything in a different way and prepare for these long games. Well, there’s definitely going to be a lot of questions about the schedule,” Swiatek said.

In Doha, top seed Iga Swiatek defeated Indonesian star Janice Tjen in the second round at the time of writing. at the same time, Zheng Qinwen Came back from a set down to beat Sofia Kenin in the first round and will face Alicia Parks in the second round.