Craig Tiley has wasted no time stirring debate in his new role as CEO of the United States Tennis Association. Fresh from more than a decade leading Tennis Australia, where he served as Australian Open tournament director since 2006, Tiley is already floating bold ideas, including introducing best-of-five sets for women at Grand Slam events.
Speaking on the Australian Open's The Sit-Down podcast, Tiley laid out a vision for a reimagined Melbourne major, one that would open with a blockbuster Saturday night session featuring former champions, build into a full Sunday schedule, and eventually see women competing over five sets from the quarterfinals onward. His ambition is grand: a 21-day festival drawing at least 100,000 spectators daily, a event he believes could rival the Olympic Games in spectacle.
This is not a new campaign for Tiley. During the 2026 Australian Open, he told reporters the format change was something the sport needed to seriously discuss with players. The response from the women's tour, however, has been decidedly cool. Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina, and Amanda Anisimova all expressed a preference for keeping the current best-of-three format. Swiatek weighed in during the Qatar Open, suggesting the current global context made the conversation complicated.
On his first day at the USTA, Tiley struck an optimistic note about growing tennis participation beyond what anyone thought possible, framing his tenure as a collaborative effort with the broader tennis family. Whether that collaboration extends to convincing players on the five-set question remains very much to be seen.
TennisDraw users tracking how format changes might reshape draw outcomes will want to keep a close eye on how this debate evolves heading into the Slam season.
