{"id":1816048,"date":"2026-03-09T13:30:22","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T10:30:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1816048"},"modified":"2026-03-09T13:30:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T10:30:22","slug":"novak-djokovic-gives-gruelling-and-demanding-response-when-asked-if-women-should-play-five-set-matches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1816048","title":{"rendered":"Novak Djokovic gives &#8216;gruelling and demanding&#8217; response when asked if women should play five-set matches"},"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\">Novak Djokovic gives \u2018gruelling and demanding\u2019 response when asked if women should play five-set matches<\/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\/shahidaj\" class=\"text-sm font-normal !text-author\"><br \/>\n                            Shahida Jacobs                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <time class=\"ml-3 text-sm font-normal text-info md:ml-4\" datetime=\"09 Mar 2026 1:30 PM\" data-ps-date=\"09 Mar 2026 1:30 PM\" data-ps-datetime=\"1773063022\"><br \/>\n                            09 Mar 2026 1:30 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 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href=\"https:\/\/share.flipboard.com\/bookmarklet\/popout?v=2&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tennis365.com%2Ftennis-news%2Fnovak-djokovic-gives-gruelling-and-demanding-response-after-asked-if-women-should-play-five-set-matches\" aria-label=\"Share to flipboard\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/a>\n                    <\/div>\n<div class=\"sm:hidden flex 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=\"Novak Djokovic gives \u2018gruelling and demanding\u2019 response when asked if women should play five-set matches\"><\/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:\/\/images.ps-aws.com\/c?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tennis365.com%2Fcontent%2Fuploads%2F2025%2F03%2FNovak-Djokovic-press-conference-1320x742.jpg\" alt=\"Novak Djokovic speaks at a press conference at the Miami Open\">                <\/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                                Novak Djokovic speaks at a press conference                            <\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<div class=\"ciam-article-t365\">\n<p>As the debate around women playing five-set matches at Grand Slams continues, Novak Djokovic admits it\u2019s a \u201cwhole different animal\u201d than playing three-setters.<\/p>\n<p>Former Australian Open Tournament Director Craig Tiley floated the idea of women playing best-of-five from the quarter-finals onwards at majors, but the suggestion has had mixed responses with the likes of Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina against it while reigning world No 1 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/australian-open\/aryna-sabalenka-makes-big-claim-rule-change-would-have-probably-grand-slams\">Aryna Sabalenka believes she is up for the challenge<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>24-time Grand Slam winner <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/novak-djokovic\">Djokovic<\/a> has played nearly 500 best-of-five-set matches during his illustrious career so he knows the mental and physical toll of these lengthy matches.<\/p>\n<p>His longest-ever five-setter was in the 2012 Australian Open final when he battled Rafael Nadal for five hours and 53 minutes before winning.<\/p>\n<p>The Serbian\u2019s most recent one was at this year\u2019s season-opening Grand Slam at Melbourne Park as he took four hours and nine minutes to beat Jannik Sinner in the semi-final.<\/p>\n<p>When asked about the idea, the former world No 1 replied: \u201cI don\u2019t recommend [it] (smiling).\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Tennis News<\/h2>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/female-players-ready-handle-five-sets-wta-tour-player-debate\">Female players \u2018ready to handle five sets\u2019 says WTA tour player as debate goes on<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/iga-swiatek-coco-gauff-amanda-anisimova-speak-best-of-five-sets\">Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff and Amanda Anisimova give their opinions on playing best-of-five sets<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Djokovic was then asked to elaborate about the challenges and he explained: \u201cIt feels like when you\u2019re preparing for a Grand Slam, you play best-of-five for us, it feels like you\u2019re preparing for something completely different, completely different tour, different physical preparation and mental preparation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause some matches can go, you know, three, four, five, six hours. And I have played, you know, the longest Grand Slam final in history. I was part of that with Nadal in 2012, went almost six hours in Australia.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo just gruelling. I mean, incredibly gruelling and demanding, and I played recently with Jannik, I don\u2019t know what it was, almost, whatever it was, four-and-a-half, almost five hours in Australia.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI mean, back in 2012, my body had recovered much faster than what is the case today after such a marathon, long matches. Yes, you do have a day between matches in Grand Slams, but when you have a match like that, that is, you know, four-, five-plus hours, it\u2019s just taking a big toll on your physical condition. Very hard to recover and be able to, I guess, be ready for the next challenge.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou might play well the next match, but then the longer you progress in the tournament, the physically more exhausted you are. That\u2019s the big one. Obviously mentally, as well, of course. But physically, it\u2019s a whole different animal, so to say, that you\u2019re facing in Grand Slams compared to anything else that we have on the tour.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Want more from Tennis365? Add us as <a rel=\"noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\">a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for tennis coverage you can trust.<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Novak Djokovic gives \u2018gruelling and demanding\u2019 response when asked if women should play five-set matches Shahida Jacobs 09 Mar 2026 1:30 PM Novak Djokovic speaks at a press conference As the debate around women playing five-set matches at Grand Slams continues, Novak Djokovic admits it\u2019s a \u201cwhole different animal\u201d than playing three-setters. Former Australian Open [&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-1816048","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\/1816048","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=1816048"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1816048\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1816048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1816048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1816048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}