Former world number four Brad Gilbert comes up with new Grand Slam format which coincidentally benefits top two in the world

Former professional tennis player Brad Gilbert has called out a new format for Grand Slam events which could see the top two seeds Carlos Alcaraz/Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka/Iga Swiatek face off against the world number seven and eight, possibly benefiting them.

The world number one and two are not set to meet unless they both reach the final, as per tennis regulation. This has been a very common theme in recent times. The last three Grand Slam finals have featured Alcaraz and Sinner locking horns in a trio of hugely exciting matchups. While Sinner won the Wimbledon title, Alcaraz lifted the trophy at Roland Garros and US Open.

While the top ATP players have been facing off for fun, Sabalenka and Swiatek meetings have become particularly rare. They only met once in 2025 - at the French Open semi-final where Sabalenka ended the Pole's terrific streak at the event. In fact, they have only met once in a Grand Slam final. This came in the 2022 US Open where Swiatek came from a set down to overcome the current world number one.

The top one-two seeds and three-four seeds are currently drawn in separate halves of the draw for Grand Slam events. This is different for seeds five-eight. They have to wait for their fate in the draw before knowing who they will come up against in a free for all. This raised a concern from tennis analysist Gill Gross, who queried what would happen if a player tied on rankings points occurred when the draw happened. he specifically picked out Taylor Fritz and Alex de Minaur who are already close in the rankings.

“What happens when two players are tied? How is seeding determined?," he questioned. "The first tiebreaker is most total combined points at Slams, Masters and ATP Finals. Fritz: 2,760, Demon: 2,650 So Fritz is your current No. 6.”

The former world number four came up with an idea. “No difference between 6-7 seed in slams or big @atptour tournaments ️as they go in groups of 4 from round of 16 on, should be 1-2 vs 7-8 instead of 1-2 vs 5-8 in quarters, should never be 1 vs 5,” he wrote.

Gilbert's request means that from the round-of-16 it should already be determined that the players in the one and two seed should face players in seventh and eighth. This would mean, in the ATP draw, Alcaraz would face world number five Felix Auger-Aliassime in the last-16 while Sinner tackles fellow countryman and world number eight Lorenzo Musetti. While it may seem like a disadvantage, this could hugely benefit Alcaraz and Sinner. The pair have both beaten those opponents before, along with seemingly everyone else, and thus would possibly have easier draws throughout. In the WTA event, Sabalenka would face off against two-time Grand Slam finalist Jasmine Paolini while Swiatek takes on the reigning Australian Open champion Madison Keys in a repeat of the 2025 final. This is while the number three and four seeds would be placed randomly in the top halves. So Alexander Zverev/Novak Djokovic and Coco Gauff/Amanda Anisimova would be split into random parts of the draw.