Australian Open forced to clarify controversial Abdo comments
Australian Open organisers have been forced to wind back comments by new chief executive Andrew Abdo after he suggested a drastic change was on the cards.
Abdo, who has been in the job barely a month after a six-year stint as NRL chief executive, this week set tongues wagging when he suggested a “short-form” version of the game could be introduced at the Australian Open.
Andrew Abdo took over as Tennis Australia chief executive on August 3. The Age
"If you want to maximise your commercial outcome, we're in the entertainment game, right? Sport is entertainment," he said at the Sport NXT conference.
"Clearly there's unbelievable athleticism involved with the sport at that level, but the rules and the format and the product has to evolve. So a short-form version of that, who knows?"
Abdo then suggested the lengths of matches could change mid-tournament, or tweaking the scoring system.
Abdo’s predecessor Craig Tiley previously flagged a desire to have women play five-setters from the quarter-finals onward. There have also been calls for the introduction of no-advantage deuce scoring, in which a service game would be decided by the winner of the following point at 40-all.
"Maybe there are different permutations to how we engage and entertain audiences without losing the fabric, and what really makes the sport special," Abdo said.
"I think those are the questions that we need to explore and discover, and I think there's a place for evolving that.
"If you listen to the purists, they'll say, ‘don't touch that', but actually … if you look at sports around the world, if you're not thinking about that product in a way that's contemporary, in a way that's going to connect with young people, then I think you're going to be left behind."
On Thursday afternoon, the Australian Open released a two-line statement on social media.
"While innovation is part of the AO's DNA, five-set tennis is here to stay," it read, followed by a teaser for the 2027 tournament.
The four grand slams are now the only events where men play five sets. The Davis Cup switched to three-set matches in 2019. The Olympics are also three sets, although until the men’s final was played over five until the Tokyo Games.
All ATP and WTA tournaments are played over three sets.
Abdo’s comments were helped by the epic 3.33am finish between Carlos Alcaraz and Ben Shelton on Wednesday, although that was also down to circumstances. All four matches on Arthur Ashe Stadium that day went the full distance, and three of the four were decided by a 10-point tiebreak in the final set.
On the Tennis Channel, Jim Courier said Abdo's comments weren't surprising, nor was the reaction.
“A new guy has to have new ideas. I’m not surprised he was (floating) balloons, and I’m not surprised the tennis community is shooting darts at those balloons,” he said.
“I think eventually we are going to have to evolve, and I think the first little move forward will probably and should be, no-ad scoring, which will shrink the length of matches somewhat.”
Frances Tiafoe – who played in the other men’s five-set epic on Wednesday – said five sets should remain.
"I don't know where the conversation is going, what people are leaning to. Everyone is going to have an opinion," he said.
Frances Tiafoe beat Alex Michelsen in a five-set epic on Wednesday (AEST). Getty Images
"We've seen so many epics in five-setters. Do I love five-setters? Absolutely not. There's a lot of times where I'm up two sets to love, I would love to shake hands and go home. But it’s tennis, man.
"I grew up watching so many incredible five-setters. Novak-Rafa, Federer-Rafa, epic five-setters that go on for hours and hours. That's the history of the game.
"You do that, I feel like your slam doesn’t mean as much personally if you get it done in a two-out-of-three format."
