There was a time when the girls did try playing 3 out of 5 sets, at the WTA year-end tournament from 1984-1998. That reportedly had to do with some of the girls, like Seles, demanding equal treatment/pay as the boys. So the WTA tried the 3 of 5, but few of even the top players were fit enough to go the distance. There were some 5-setters, like:
1990 – Seles beat Sabatini 6-4, 5-7, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2
1995 – Graf beat Anke Huber 6-1, 2-6, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3
1996 – Graf beat Hingis 6-3, 4-6, 6-0, 4-6, 6-0
Steffi was fit then, but they needed more than her and a couple of other players who could go the distance and make a real match of it. Can the girls do it now? I believe Dinara and Dementieva could do it, maybe Zvonoreva and Sugiyama. Jankovic, Ivanovic, Kuznetsova – questionable. The Williamses – no, they’d injure themselves by the 4th set. There wouldn’t be much point in having 3 out of 5 in the early slam rounds, with qualifiers and lower-ranked players, in my opinion; there are enough blowouts already. But in the slams, from the quarterfinals on up, I think the girls should be tested more. There are definitely some top girls who need to be pushed into better fitness. They ought to be fitter now than 10 years ago.
When it’s 2 out of 3, some of the semis and finals go less than 1 hour (like the Oz)? Jeez, have the girls earn their equal pay. I really don’t think they deserve it these days – for a while the WTA was interesting and I’d get fired up about the competition, but when all the top names basically have the same game, the ATP is much more interesting. More people tune in for them. The boys sometimes have early 5-set thrillers in the slams, but considering the heavy tour schedule and injuries among especially the better players, it makes sense to reserve the 3 out of 5 venue for the second week of a slam, don’t you think?
Lexa W. Lee – http://mvn.com/tennisdiary
