{"id":1813676,"date":"2026-03-07T21:00:02","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T18:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1813676"},"modified":"2026-03-07T21:00:02","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T18:00:02","slug":"female-players-ready-to-handle-five-sets-says-wta-tour-player-as-debate-goes-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1813676","title":{"rendered":"Female players &#8216;ready to handle five sets&#8217; says WTA tour player as debate goes on"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"ps-article-content rounded-lg lg:mt-5 lg:border lg:border-card lg:bg-card lg:shadow-primary\">\n<header>\n<h1 class=\"py-4 text-xl font-normal text-title sm:text-2xl\">Female players \u2018ready to handle five sets\u2019 says WTA tour player as debate goes on<\/h1>\n<div class=\"my-2 flex items-center justify-between\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/author\/sam-cooper\" class=\"text-sm font-normal !text-author\"><br \/>\n                            Sam Cooper                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <time class=\"ml-3 text-sm font-normal text-info md:ml-4\" datetime=\"07 Mar 2026 9:00 PM\" data-ps-date=\"07 Mar 2026 9:00 PM\" data-ps-datetime=\"1772917202\"><br \/>\n                            07 Mar 2026 9:00 PM                        <\/time>\n                    <\/div>\n<div class=\"hidden justify-end space-x-4 text-xl sm:flex sm:!opacity-100\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 hidden dark:block h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/common\/google_preferred_source_badge_dark@2x.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on Google\" width=\"76\" height=\"24\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 dark:hidden h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/common\/google_preferred_source_badge_light@2x.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on Google\" width=\"76\" height=\"24\"><br \/>\n                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/female-players-ready-handle-five-sets-wta-tour-player-debate\" class=\"!text-info hover:!text-brand\" aria-label=\"Share to facebook\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tennis365.com%2Ftennis-news%2Ffemale-players-ready-handle-five-sets-wta-tour-player-debate\" class=\"!text-info hover:!text-brand\" aria-label=\"Share to twitter\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <a 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items-center space-x-5\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 hidden dark:block h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/common\/google_preferred_source_badge_dark@2x.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on Google\" width=\"76\" height=\"24\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 dark:hidden h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/common\/google_preferred_source_badge_light@2x.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on Google\" width=\"76\" height=\"24\"><br \/>\n                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <button id=\"t365-article-share-btn-hidden\" class=\"mr-2 hidden h-6 w-6 appearance-none border-none !text-share-icon outline-none hover:!text-share-icon-active sm:hidden\" data-title=\"Female players \u2018ready to handle five sets\u2019 says WTA tour player as debate goes on\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/button>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5 border-b border-page\"><\/div>\n<section>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5\">\n<figure class=\"aspect-h-9 aspect-w-16 relative\">\n                                        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1320\" height=\"742\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"w-full h-full object-cover object-center !my-0\" src=\"https:\/\/d2me2qg8dfiw8u.cloudfront.net\/content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Paula-Badosa-1320x742.jpg\" alt=\"Paula Badosa\">                <\/figure><figcaption class=\"flex items-center space-x-3 border-b border-mobile-caption px-3 lg:border-caption\">\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"my-1.5 break-words !text-xs !text-content\">\n                                Paula Badosa has given her backing to the WTA switching to five sets.                            <\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<div class=\"ciam-article-t365\">\n<p>Former World No.2 Paula Badosa believes women are ready to play five sets as there is an increasing discussion about doing just that.<\/p>\n<p>The argument for women to play five-setters was put into the spotlight by new United States Tennis Association CEO Craig Tiley who raised the idea in the final tournament of his tenure as head of Tennis Australia.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne of the things I\u2019ve been saying now is that I think there should be three out of five sets for women. We should look at the last few matches \u2014 the quarters and the semis and the finals \u2014 and make the women\u2019s side three out of five,\u201d the man credited with revolutionising the first Slam of the year said.<\/p>\n<p>That has put a lot of oxygen into a debate that had been going on for years but it now seems more likely than ever that the rule could be put in place and former World No.2 Badosa has given her backing to the idea.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLook, my opinion is that we are ready to handle five sets,\u201d she told <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/tennishead.net\/paula-badosa-gives-her-opinion-on-if-women-should-play-five-sets-at-grand-slams\/\">TennisHead<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI mean, we practice every day, we\u2019ve been training for all our lives, and I think tennis and the athletes we have now in our sport are super strong, and it has evolved so much during the years, you know?<\/p>\n<p><strong>MORE NEWS ON T365<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/alex-eala-excited-for-coco-gauff-rematch-after-prevailing-indian-wells-thriller\"><strong>Alex Eala \u2018excited\u2019 for Coco Gauff rematch after prevailing in Indian Wells thriller<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/amanda-anisimova-emma-raducanu-high-quality-comment-indian-wells-meeting\"><strong>Amanda Anisimova makes Emma Raducanu \u2018high quality\u2019 comment ahead of Indian Wells meeting<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo I think we are ready to do that, but also you have to consider the scheduling, the recovery. Um, it\u2019s not easy to do all this kind of stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One influential voice in her support for the idea is current World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka who suggested she would have more Grand Slam titles to her name if matches began to go to five sets.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYeah, let\u2019s do that,\u201d she said ahead of Indian Wells. \u201cI feel like I would have probably more Grand Slams. I feel like physically I\u2019m really strong, and I\u2019m pretty confident that my body can handle that.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo let\u2019s do it\u2026 Well, I don\u2019t know. I guess it\u2019s a lot of fitness work to be done for others, but I feel like we\u2019re in a sport and we have to care about ourselves, and I feel like if they do it, I have huge advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Read next: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/aryna-sabalenka-coco-gauff-respond-emma-raducanus-coach-claim\">Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff respond to Emma Raducanu\u2019s coach claim<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Want more from Tennis365? Add us as a <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\">preferred source on Google<\/a> to your favourites list for tennis coverage you can trust.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Female players \u2018ready to handle five sets\u2019 says WTA tour player as debate goes on Sam Cooper 07 Mar 2026 9:00 PM Paula Badosa has given her backing to the WTA switching to five sets. Former World No.2 Paula Badosa believes women are ready to play five sets as there is an increasing discussion about [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,249],"class_list":["post-1813676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-tennis365-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1813676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1813676"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1813676\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1813676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1813676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1813676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}