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Australian Open logo on tennis balls
Starting a new executive job usually involves learning where everything is, meeting employees and attempting not to create a public-relations problem during the first month. Andrew Abdo apparently skipped directly to suggesting one of tennis’ oldest Grand Slam traditions might eventually disappear, forcing the Australian Open to publicly clarify that five-set tennis is going nowhere.
The new Tennis Australia CEO floated the possibility of shorter Grand Slam formats during the SportNXT conference in Melbourne, arguing that tennis needs to evolve to connect with younger audiences. Abdo specifically suggested that “maybe we’re not playing best-of-five all the way through,” according to Front Office Sports, while also raising the possibility of changing the sport’s scoring system.
The Australian Open Basically Had To Correct Its New Boss
That suggestion did not exactly spend several months quietly moving through a committee.
Two days later, the Australian Open’s official account delivered a rather direct message: “five-set tennis is here to stay.”
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) September 10, 2026
The tournament added that innovation remains part of its identity and teased more changes for the 2027 Australian Open, but the important part was difficult to misunderstand.
Best-of-five is staying.
That creates a pretty incredible dynamic when the person overseeing Tennis Australia had just publicly included eliminating some five-set matches among the ideas the sport should explore.
Abdo did not announce an actual proposal to immediately abolish five-set tennis. His broader point was that sports cannot refuse to experiment while competing for younger viewers with shorter attention spans and endless entertainment options.
Fair enough.
But “maybe we stop playing best-of-five throughout Grand Slams” is not exactly a minor rules experiment in tennis.
It is more like becoming commissioner of baseball and casually wondering aloud whether nine innings are really necessary.
Tennis Has A Real Length Problem, Just Maybe Not That Solution
The discussion did not emerge from nowhere.
The 2026 US Open has produced increasingly ridiculous late-night tennis, including Carlos Alcaraz and Ben Shelton finishing their quarterfinal at 3:33 a.m., the latest finish in tournament history. Other matches have started after midnight because earlier matches on Arthur Ashe Stadium ran so long.
Five-set men’s matches obviously contribute to that unpredictability.
They also produce some of the sport’s most memorable matches.
Frances Tiafoe acknowledged essentially both sides after surviving a nearly five-hour match this week, admitting he would occasionally love to shake hands after winning two sets while also defending the tradition because of the epic matches it creates.
Novak Djokovic has suggested another compromise: preserve best-of-five but shorten individual sets, potentially playing to four games rather than six while eliminating advantage scoring.
There are plenty of options between “do absolutely nothing” and “delete five-set tennis.”
Abdo has barely settled into the job after replacing longtime Tennis Australia boss Craig Tiley, so nobody should expect the Australian Open to completely reinvent itself because of one conference appearance.
Still, his first major format idea produced an impressively fast response from his own tournament.