'But I wouldn’t be against it': Naomi Osaka weighs in on five-set debate in women's tennis

Former world number one Naomi Osaka has supported the idea of having five sets in women’s matches at the Grand Slams. There has been some discussion in the recent past about whether there should be five-set matches in women’s tennis, just like men’s tennis, from the quarterfinals stage during major events.

The discussion sparked after a certain section of the tennis community raised concerns about why women’s tennis players should receive equal prize money to men’s when their matches are considerably shorter compared to men’s matches. Recently, the French Open final was a glaring example of that. The men’s final, where Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz defeated Italy’s Jannik Sinner in a five-set thriller with a score of 4-6, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 7-6, lasted more than five hours (5 hours and 29 minutes) and officially became the longest final in the history of Grand Slams in the Open era.

On the other hand, the women’s final, where America’s Coco Gauff came out on top against world number one Aryna Sabalenka with a score of 6-7, 6-2, 6-4, lasted just two hours and 38 minutes. Osaka, who is currently taking part in Wimbledon 2025 and secured her spot in the second round after beating Australia’s Talia Gibson in straight sets with a score of 6-4, 7-6, spoke to the media after the match where she supported the idea of women’s tennis having five-set matches at Grand Slams events. Osaka was of the opinion that she believes in ‘equality’ in every single term, and therefore, she would be more than willing to compete in such matches.

“I think I would do pretty well if that’s what you’re asking,” said Osaka. “I know we would probably never get to that point. But I wouldn’t be against it if it did happen. Honestly I feel like out of all the things to be equal, that might be like one of the most nit-picky things. I’ve also just grown up my whole life knowing that men play 5 sets and women play 3 sets. I think it’s a bit hard to change that mentality, for me, personally.”