Jessica Pegula Delivers Bold Verdict on Grand Slam Rule Debate After Aryna Sabalenka’s Call

“I think it’s too much on the woman’s body. We are not ready for this amount of tennis.” World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka recently expressed her sentiments on the possibility of women playing best of five sets going forward. No wonder the epic five-set thriller between the likes of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner at the French Open was a match for the ages. But it seems the same can’t be expected to happen when it comes to women’s tennis. To put more weight behind it, World No.3 and American pro Jessica Pegula has now shared her own personal take. So does she believe there’s really a need for women to start playing five-set encounters as well?

On Tuesday, Pegula had an unfortunate time on the court as 116-ranked Elisabetta Cocciaretto stunned her in straight sets (6-3, 6-2). It was the biggest upset at the ongoing Wimbledon event. However, after the match, Pegula had some intriguing thoughts to share. During the press conference, she was asked whether the idea of playing a five set match in Grand Slams interests her. Well, her immediate response was, “Would I want to play three out of five?, No.” Expanding on her answer, she added, “I think I would rather the men play two out of three! I don’t think we all need to start playing three out of five. To me, it’s just too long and I personally lose interest watching the matches.”

To her it, it comes down to the point of “‘Do we really need that?’ I don’t know. Some people love it. I personally will not watch a full five-hour match. People can’t even hold their attention long enough they say these days with phones, how are they holding their attention to five hours? I don’t know, but it’s just not my thing.”

Providing more reasoning, Pegula continued, “it’s harder to win two out of three than it is to win three out of five. Not physically obviously but it’s always gonna cater to the better player in the long run if you are playing three out of five.” Concluding her remarks, the American said, “So I think you’d see a lot of upsets of top players if men played two out of three in slams.”

While many won’t believe, there was a phase in women’s tennis when matches used to last five sets. From 1984 to 1998, the summit clash in the WTA Finals used to follow the longer format. The very first of such encounters saw Martina Navratilova taking on Chris Evert. In this battle, Navratilova bested Evert with a score line of 6-3, 7-5, 6-1. That time, both these WTA icons actually backed the five-set format in women’s tennis. Per them, it allowed female players to showcase their stamina and mental strength just like men. However, the format was later removed and reduced to three sets only.

Coming back to Pegula, the American also shared her feelings on her performance itself. Cocciaretto managed to beat her in just 58 minutes. The World No.3 was all praise for the Italian.

Jessica Pegula credits Cocciaretto after first-round Wimbledon win

For the uninitiated, Jessica Pegula’s best run at Wimbledon was reaching the quarterfinals. She did it back in 2023. Last year, however, she couldn’t move past the second round. Prior to her battle against Cocciaretto, the American was riding on the wave of her Bad Homburg title on grass, which she won by beating Iga Swiatek.

But she couldn’t carry the momentum at the All England Club. After 2019, it’s the first time that Pegula has failed to clear the first round at the grass major. Following a disappointing result, she admired her opponent and gave her full credit. “She played absolutely incredible tennis,” reported WTA’s website on July 1. But she also admitted that her performance wasn’t entirely underwhelming. “Do I think I played the best match ever? No, but I definitely don’t think I was playing bad.”

She continued, “It wasn’t like I was playing that bad. She just was hitting her shots and going for it, serving big, serving high percentage, going big second serves, redirecting the ball. “I do feel like she played kind of insane. Hats off to her. Kudos to her for playing at a high level that I couldn’t match it today.”

With her journey at this year’s Wimbledon being over, Pegula will try to work on her grass skills even more. Ahead of the next season’s edition, she will try to improve herself as much as possible. How did you find her performance against Cocciaretto? Let us know in the comments below.

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