"I think eventually we are going to have to evolve" - Jim Courier pitches intriguing rule change as tennis format debate rumbles on

An uproar in the tennis world has occurred with the floating idea of best-of-five sets format possibly being abolished not going down well with many. It was mentioned by Tennis Australia CEO Andrew Abdo who, among others, continues to find ways to adapt the sport. Jim Courier agreed that tennis needed to continue on this path of improvement and even underlined a rule change of his own.

Speaking on the Tennis Channel, Courier noted how the format has been iconic and synonymous in the sport, but that does not mean it has to be around forever with the need for adaption as times change.

"It's our link to the history of the sport, right?" he said. "It's how we compare generations of players. How did they do in this type of format? But it doesn't mean that it's going to be forever.

"I don't know if it's going to happen in Australia. I find it interesting that, as Craig Tiley was getting ready to leave the Australian Open, one of his parting shots — this is before it was announced that he was coming to the US — he said he thinks that there's such an appetite for the sport that the women should play best-of-five from the quarterfinals on."

Tiley has since departed to become the CEO of USTA with Abdo coming in to fill the void. "So, two different ideas," Courier continued. "But I think Andrew Abdo was sitting in a sports conference and was probably asked, 'What's the future of tennis look like?' A new guy has to have new ideas."

The four-time Grand Slam champion admitted that change was inevitable and even raised a suggestion of his own as he predicted that tennis organisers could switch things up in the near future.

"I'm not surprised he will be trial-ballooning these. I'm not surprised that the tennis community is shooting darts at those balloons. But we've talked about it on this show. I mean, I think eventually we are going to have to evolve. And I think the first little move forward will probably, and should, be let's go to no-ad scoring, which will shrink the length of matches somewhat."

This talk surrounding the best-of-five set format is one that has come at an intriguing time. Over in the US Open, there has been some absolute thrillers which involved five sets, most notably Ben Shelton's win over Carlos Alcaraz and Frances Tiafoe's incredible comeback versus Alex Michelsen.

This has motivated Lindsay Davenport to come out and defend the format, believing that change is not necessary. "I mean, that was the match of the tournament that everyone had circled when the draw came out, right? Shelton-Alcaraz, if we get there, what a great match," she commented.

The main problem with this was the scheduling issues. "Because of circumstances, it starts after 11 p.m., finishes at 3:30 a.m. And the reality is most people in this country didn't get a chance to experience the greatness of that match."

Her argument against change was that the popularity of the sport has been sky-rocketing with the emerging rival between Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner coming off the back of the 'Big Three'. "But isn't our sport doing great? I thought so. I mean, it's just killing it here at the US Open. Every tournament we travel to around the world, it seems like the interest has never been greater," she noted.

"So, to try and change things, we're coming off the best generation of male tennis players of all time. And some of those battles that we got with Roger and Rafa and Novak, I'm not sure we needed change. I know it's getting crazy late, or the length of matches. I think there's something scheduling-wise that could be done before changing the format."

There has always been changes in tennis over the years, from small things to bigger ones like the tiebreak. With the intended target a younger audience with a shorter attention span, there are other ways that tennis could evolve to hit these targets. Davenport suggested the shot clock that tennis utilises now, but Courier stepped in.

"The shot clock has made it longer," he explained. "It's actually increased the length it was supposed to, but the players now know how much time they have and they milk it. So that's actually backfired."

He again circled back to his no-ad scoring suggestion, double downing on it. "The only way to, if you want to keep the link to the past, keep the best-of-five, but shorten these matches, I'm telling you, the only way to do it is no-ad scoring. Because instead of 10-minute games, you're going to have seven points maximum each game. You get to the pressure moments a little bit quicker."

He confirmed his allegiances with the best-of-five format whilst making his frustrations clear over the scheduling problems that comes with it. "But I love that we have this best-of-five now. I don't love that so many people missed watching this amazing match last night because we had so many matches during the day in the early night session that forced it to start so late."

It has since been confirmed that the Australian Open will continue to be played with best-of-five sets in the men's draw. Tennis will continue to innovate and test new ideas with the future format uncertain.