Photo via Yahoo Sports

John McEnroe Proposes Matchbreaker Instead of Current Best-of-Five Set Structure

Legendary tennis player John McEnroe has proposed a radical overhaul to Grand Slam match structures, suggesting a 'matchbreaker' format to replace the traditional best-of-five sets. Under his plan, players would compete in four sets, with the fifth set replaced by a 10-point tiebreaker if the score reaches 2-2.

McEnroe’s idea draws inspiration from the Laver Cup’s scoring system, which uses a 10-point tiebreaker to decide best-of-three matches. His proposal comes in response to Novak Djokovic’s earlier suggestion of shortening sets to four games and eliminating the advantage rule at 40-40, though McEnroe dismissed concerns about Djokovic’s fitness, praising his enduring competitiveness after the Serbian’s triumphant return in Beijing.

The debate over best-of-five matches has intensified amid rising player injuries, with a Professional Tennis Players Association study revealing a 116% increase in arm injuries and a 42% rise in upper-body injuries in early 2026 compared to the same period last year. Tennis Australia’s CEO, Andrew Abdo, has also hinted at potential changes to the Australian Open’s scoring system to address audience engagement and player welfare, signaling broader dissatisfaction with the current format.

Up nextTennis· 4h ago

Mirra Andreeva gives her thoughts on playing Qinwen Zheng in front of her home crowd in the China Open final