Novak Djokovic: "I support some best of three at slams... we need to save tennis from pickleball"

[Cashman]

It is definitely not true.

I don't see you showing any receipts

 

[FlyingSaucer]

Realistically I could live with 1st week Bo3. I don't watch 90% of the matches being played anyway, and it would help a ton with the scheduling.

But I can't support it because I know that's how these things get away from us. Before you know it, it won't just be R1-3, it'll encroach to the 2nd week in R4. Soon after it'll become like the Masters/Olympics when they became Bo5 only for the finals. And then when it's only for the final the complaints start coming about how unfair and inconsistent it is to have different rules just for the finals, that the players shouldn't have to play their longest match once they're the most tired after 6 rounds.

And just like that Bo5 gets eliminated all together.

Mac spent so many years on his quest to get all final sets in slams to be tiebreak sets. Job done. Then, the other day, I saw some BS about him calling for the deciding set itself to be a TB decider and not an actual set, a la Laver Cup.

In short, I agree with you and I don't support BO3 in slams either, in any round.

 

[FlyingSaucer]

Cricket is like a sibling of Baseball created in England.

Cricket is a game played by England, Australia-Nz, indian subcontinent nations and some africans. 90% of the viewerbase is from the Indian subcontinent.

So that's 1 Billion+ viewers

However Cricket is 7th on the list of sports played by participation, narrowly above Tennis which is at 6th.

01. Football
02. Badminton
03. Hockey
04. Volleyball
05. Basketball
06. Tennis
07. Cricket

WEST INDIES.

 

[roysid]

That google searched article just takes population into account. That's just one aspect.

Cricket is very popular but it's heavily tilted towards india as it's the primary sport there. So big bucks coming along with the massive population support. In countries like England, Aus,SA , NZ etc. cricket is not primary sport over there.
Very popular in Pakistan, Srilanka too but their economies aren't doing good.

And in newer countries like US, Canada , Netherlands it's mainly indian origin who are forming the team.

Tennis is global but hardly anywhere it's the most popular sport in that country. And yes 5 setters are a pain to watch unless they are big matches at the later stages

 

[weakera]

That is a good point. To be honest the 2nd week is the most important one where the best players face other. I could maybe accept the first week as best of 3 or even just say round 1 and round 2 then go to BO5. Maybe 2 BO3 and other 5 matches BO5. That still keeps it best of 5 overall but helps speed up the tournament with scheduling and also protects players a little physically.

I still prefer it as it is but maybe I could be on board with the first couple of rounds changing.
.

I said that the other week but I think that if ground is ceded that eventually they will flip all matches to best of three. If there were a way to get some kind of guarantee that the latter stages would always remain best of five I'd be open to best of three for the first 2-3 rounds. But I think if tennis makes that concession it won't be very long before a push begins to make all matches best of three. And so I wouldn't make any changes ultimately. But I think the concept of 2-3 best of three rounds in the first week can help slams in several ways.

 

[onehandbh]

Pretty much. To me a sport is anything that at least requires some physical effort. Although I struggle with how to label golf

John Daly is a world-class athlete that could easily have excelled in the NBA, tennis, football, and Nathan's hot dog eating contest.

 

[kunos]

You're hot then you're cold, you're yes then you're no.

2018 "I would have even grand slams best of 3"
2020 "I am more a proponent of 2 out of 3 everywhere"
2021 "I would prefer best of 5 to best of 3. I feel I am fit, I have more experience"
2024 "I support some best of 3 at slams"

he's likely answering to very different questions

 

[Justshort]

Changing opening rounds to BO3 will maybe reduce the top heavy nature of tennis with more upsets ?

Looks like Novak doesn't give a sh1t for what happens to tennis because anyway his career is ending, so now he is ok with any change.

The only logical way to "save" tennis is to bring down the records that Big 3 created and what better way than to add a 5th Slam ? The SAUDI ARABIA OPEN.... make it indoors.... just scrap off the useless ATP Finals.

You're a moron

 

[Dominic & Andrey]

@Kralingen let's bring the guillotine for Imhotep after they are done with Medvedev.

 

[Razer]

You're a moron

Says a faceless troll operating a new account from his basement ???

 

[ND-13]

Just want to say - overall some good thoughts from Djokovic. But the idea that tennis is the "third or fourth most popular sport in the world, most watched sport in the world, along with cricket." is laughable. I have no idea how they are arriving at that conclusion or number but it is obviously not correct.

India has got 1.4 billion and is 18% of the world and is cricket crazy. Tennis and other sports are irrelevant in the scheme of things

 

[Justshort]

Says a faceless troll operating a new account from his basement ???

This is in what terms opposite to you ?

 

[Razer]

This is in what terms opposite to you ?

There is a lot of difference between you and me.

- You don't have a DP, I have my own.
- You are a new user, I am not
- You are 47, I am much younger to you, despite this you seem agitated and attack me randomly out of the blue, probably some sort of a mid life crisis?

So you and me are not the same, I suggest you drink some water and find something fruitful to do instead of attacking posters for entertainment.

 

[40Deuce]

Comes across as self-interest talking.

 

[nolefam_2024]

Comes across as self-interest talking.

40Deuce has a professional degree in philosophy or something.

 

[JeanTennis]

I agree that probably RO16 on up should be BO5. You shouldn't make a slam quarterfinal without playing a BO5 at least once. But as for r1-3, it makes sense to me to make them BO3, in terms of scheduling and general interest. Just using myself as an example, I don't really start watching slams closely until the second week. I just watch the results and if there's a good match earlier I'll try to find it or just watch the recaps.

As for pickleball in the US gaining more popularity, I see this in my community. It is semi-affluent and the courts at my club are being taken over by pickleball. I try not to be an old fuddy-duddy and resist change, but it is very bothersome to me. I think eventually tennis will adapt to the change to hold onto the public's general interest, as it has in the past.

 

[nolefam_2024]

I agree that probably RO16 on up should be BO5. You shouldn't make a slam quarterfinal without playing a BO5 at least once. But as for r1-3, it makes sense to me to make them BO3, in terms of scheduling and general interest. Just using myself as an example, I don't really start watching slams closely until the second week. I just watch the results and if there's a good match earlier I'll try to find it or just watch the recaps.

As for pickleball in the US gaining more popularity, I see this in my community. It is semi-affluent and the courts at my club are being taken over by pickleball. I try not to be an old fuddy-duddy and resist change, but it is very bothersome to me. I think eventually tennis will adapt to the change to hold onto the public's general interest, as it has in the past.

That would still reduce the bo5 from 127 matches to just 15

Which is a good thing. The interest in having top players play nobodies for five sets is not real.

 

[Deleted member 810491]

Pickleball has been an EPIC FAILURE, since I can't name one pickleball player, NONE, no idea who is ranked #1 in pickleball or who won the most majors etc.
Djokovic must be completely drunk or going insane if he thinks pickleball has any impact on what tennis does...

 

[a10best]

I know a lot of clubs that have converted some of their courts to that horrific leisure activity. Money & demand will always dominate product availability.

BTW, for Novak fans, is it not a concern that Djokovic hasn't won a tournament this year and has made 0 finals. BO3 for him is ideal to get more titles.

 

[GabeT]

Pickleball has been an EPIC FAILURE, since I can't name one pickleball player, NONE, no idea who is ranked #1 in pickleball or who won the most majors etc.
Djokovic must be completely drunk or going insane if he thinks pickleball has any impact on what tennis does...

Pickleball a failure?



Do you know anything about any sport?

 

[Deleted member 810491]

Pickleball a failure?



Do you know anything about any sport?

How much is a professional pickleballer paid?
What is the winner's cheque at the biggest pickleball events?
And again, who is ranked #1?
The sport barely exists on a professional level, when compared to tennis.
Pickleball is for people who aren't athletic enough to play tennis...

 

[Vincent-C]

Nooooo.... more Bo5, not less!

 

[Deleted member 810491]

Nooooo.... more Bo5, not less!

I feel sorry for anyone who wins a slam title with best-of-3-sets, as they'll never be given the credit of those who won slam titles with best-of-5-sets.
That's probably the only reason why Djokovic would suggest best-of-3-sets, to discredit all the players who win more slams than Djokovic in future.
Either that or Djokovic is dumb as a rock... if he actually thinks best-of-3-sets is good for tennis

 

[aldeayeah]

Having Bo3 only in the early rounds of slams, which only enfranchised fans watch to begin with, seems particularly pointless. Swing and a miss, Mr. Djokovic.

 

[GabeT]

How much is a professional pickleballer paid?
What is the winner's cheque at the biggest pickleball events?
And again, who is ranked #1?
The sport barely exists on a professional level, when compared to tennis.
Pickleball is for people who aren't athletic enough to play tennis...

Pros can get paid millions. And that’s not the point. pickleball is fast rising in interest among casual tennis players and over time it could pose a viewing challenge to other racquet sports. Already the Tennis Channel broadcasts pickleball. This is what Djokovic, who has forgotten more about tennis then you will ever know, is referring to

 

[_phantom]

he's likely answering to very different questions

Likely but...

If you read this part of his answer from two days ago, it's clear that he had reversed his earlier preference for Bo3 matches in slams. This likely happened around 2021, when it became obvious that the 90s generation was ineffective against him in Bo5 matches.

"You guys have been asking a lot of players whether the best-of-five should be turned into best-of-three in the slams. I don't think so. I think they should stay best-of-five... "

This kind of volte-face is not surprising. He has done this many times in recent years, whether it’s about the future of the Serbia open, documents about his injury, politics in sports or his preference for meeting Rafa at RG.

It is not a coincidence that he could not get any of his multi-slam-winning colleagues to get on board with the PTPA, where they could make heavyweight decisions like this collectively. I think they feel Djo simply cannot be trusted at the helm.

 

[ND-13]

Djokovic has said the same thing what I have been suggesting for a long time . Play BO3 for the first week and BO5 for second

Nobody wants to see Alcaraz beat Vukic or Djokovic beating Kopriva and Fearnley.

 

[Better_Call_Raul]

When Djoker talks, people listen!​

Djoker says these are the most watched sports in the world:

(1) Soccer
(2) Basketball
(3) Cricket
(4) Tennis

But Djoker says even though tennis is #4 in viewing audience, it is #9 in monetizing.
Show us the $$$, says Djoker.

Djoker says tennis must appeal to the young fans in order to maximize profits.
Djoker personally prefers best of five but is open to best of three in early rounds.

All of these changes will appeal to Gen Z snowflakes with very limited attention spans.

 

[TheFifthSet]

My real problem with it going BO3 is the historical implication of a Slam being won with less sets compared to most of the other ones won in the Open Era. It just seems like a Slam won't be the same because you're not winning seven BO5 matches any longer. If it weren't for that, I think the change from R1-R3 would be fine.

Fair enough. The “slippery slope” concerns resonate more with me though. I’d hate for BO5 to be abolished altogether and I know we’d probably stand on tenuous ground.

Imo any complaints that R1-R3 BO3 slams will mean less will fade away the first few times a dominant player gets taken to a deciding (third) set, or loses.

 

[a10best]

Fair enough. The “slippery slope” concerns resonate more with me though. I’d hate for BO5 to be abolished altogether and I know we’d probably stand on tenuous ground.

Imo any complaints that R1-R3 BO3 slams will mean less will fade away the first few times a dominant player gets taken to a deciding (third) set, or loses.

The women's BO3 has been more thrilling just like the men's will be for the first week if/when they change it. You have to embrace change or be left behind.

 

[NoleFam]

Fair enough. The “slippery slope” concerns resonate more with me though. I’d hate for BO5 to be abolished altogether and I know we’d probably stand on tenuous ground.

Imo any complaints that R1-R3 BO3 slams will mean less will fade away the first few times a dominant player gets taken to a deciding (third) set, or loses.

I can see the super fans right now though always claiming that future champs aren't on the level of the older legends because they didn’t win seven BO5 matches. You know they will. Lol. I guess I'm kind of a traditionalist when it comes to tennis. Hard for me to part with BO5 in Slams.

 

[TheFifthSet]

I can see the super fans right now though always claiming that future champs aren't on the level of the older legends because they didn’t win seven BO5 matches. You know they will.

Oh for sure, but tbh that makes me want it more. Ceding ground to reactionaries, big no. I’m mostly a traditionalist too, I would straight up stop watching if BO5 was scrubbed altogether, much less if they got rid of the second serve, changed court dimensions and so on.

 

[ND-13]

Historical comparisons never had any merit anyway . People in prior decades treated AO as a Mickey Mouse tournament

We cannot stop progressive thinking only because somebody wants to compare records from time to time on the same scale.

 

[SonnyT]

Why worry about pickleball? It's for people who can't run!

 

[NoleFam]

Oh for sure, but tbh that makes me want it more. Ceding ground to reactionaries, big no. I’m mostly a traditionalist too, I would straight up stop watching if BO5 was scrubbed altogether, much less if they got rid of the second serve, changed court dimensions and so on.

Yea same, and I don't like a lot of drastic changes to the sport when it comes to those things although some changes are necessary. Like stopping ball kids from fetching towels which they are bringing back when they shouldn't be imo.

 

[Vincent-C]

Not all change is for the good. I have no particular fear of being "left behind"
for not unquestioningly accepting change. This will become clearer over time.

 

[nolefam_2024]

The time will change slams to bo3 it's bound to happen. I have zero doubts.

 

[Purestriker]

John Daly is a world-class athlete that could easily have excelled in the NBA, tennis, football, and Nathan's hot dog eating contest.

You missed the most important one, he could have easily created new sports like number of beers consumed in a day, or cigarettes smoked in a round. I bet he would own the centurion club contest.

 

[Robert F]

People kind of have fun with it and say, Yeah, but tennis is tennis. Tennis is the king or queen of all the racquet sports, that's true. But on a club level, tennis is endangered. If we don't do something about it, as I said, globally or collectively, paddle, pickle ball in States, they're going to convert all the tennis clubs into paddle and pickle ball because it's just more economical. You have one tennis court. You can build three paddle courts on one tennis court. You do the simple math. It's just much more financially viable for an owner of a club to have those courts. Those are just some of the things I wanted to share. In the grand scheme of things, I feel like we need to address all of these, I feel like, challenges and issues for us really. They have been out there for a while but I don't think we have been addressing them in a proper way."

Impressed that the GOAT is also aware of what is going on at the club level.
I'm tired of battling Pickle Ballers taking our courts outdoors. Some are starting to go indoor and it is frustrating.
I wonder if PB will get so big in the US, that tennis clubs should stick to tennis and let all the malls go to pickleball.

I'm a big fan of BO5. But I understand the argument of growing viewership and our dying attention spans. I wonder if instead of BO3, slams should do best of 3 but 8 game sets?

 

[FlyingSaucer]

Likely but...

If you read this part of his answer from two days ago, it's clear that he had reversed his earlier preference for Bo3 matches in slams. This likely happened around 2021, when it became obvious that the 90s generation was ineffective against him in Bo5 matches.

"You guys have been asking a lot of players whether the best-of-five should be turned into best-of-three in the slams. I don't think so. I think they should stay best-of-five... "

This kind of volte-face is not surprising. He has done this many times in recent years, whether it’s about the future of the Serbia open, documents about his injury, politics in sports or his preference for meeting Rafa at RG.

It is not a coincidence that he could not get any of his multi-slam-winning colleagues to get on board with the PTPA, where they could make heavyweight decisions like this collectively. I think they feel Djo simply cannot be trusted at the helm.

Huh. Interesting...

 

[Lleytonstation]

The title is my paraphrasing:

Q. You haven't had the situation in this tournament yet, but what do you make of five-set matches and the keys to thriving in them and the importance to the game?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, I mean, five-set matches, nowadays you can only see them in Grand Slams, right? That's what I guess excites both players and the crowd. Most of the people love to see it. We as players like to play it. Maybe not that often. I think at times, to see an exciting five-set match, like, for example, the one that I can highlight, it was one of the most exciting matches I've ever played in my life, the five-setter against Federer here in finals of Wimbledon 2019. I think that was the first year they introduced a 12-all tiebreak. We used it right away the first year in the final. So it was an incredible match with some match points saved. If that match was best-of-three, yes, I was two sets to one up, I think it would be quite different, because he was the better player. When you know, even if you're two sets to love or one down, like Rune was here today, who is my next opponent, he was two sets to love down, still he's not out, he can still win. I think if you're physically fitter I guess than your opponent or have more experience than your opponent in best-of-five, it still gives you a sense of confidence and tranquility, even though you're two sets to love down. Of course, there is a sense of urgency. You still feel like there's still quite a lot of time for me to kind of bounce back. Throughout my career, I've had quite a few matches where I was coming back from two sets to love or two sets to one down. Winning record mostly, positive score in a fifth setter. I enjoyed those throughout my career. I think they're an important aspect of the history and of the future, as well, of the sport. I would support it, particularly in the latter stages of the Grand Slam.

I've seen there's been quite a lot of debate on that. You guys have been asking a lot of players whether the best-of-five should be turned into best-of-three in the slams. I don't think so. I think they should stay best-of-five. The only thing that I'm maybe thinking it could be good to consider is the opening rounds that could go best-of-three, then you move into the hybrid of best-of-fives from the fourth rounds or quarters. I don't know. That's just me, my thinking. I think best-of-five, particularly in the last three or four rounds of a slam, you need to keep. But in terms of innovation in tennis, in our sport, I think it's necessary. I think we have to, other than slams, figure out how to attract young audience. I think tennis, from one hand, is in a good place, but at the same time when we look at Formula 1, for example, and what they have done in terms of marketing, in terms of growth of the sport, in terms of the races around the world and how popular they are, I think we need to do a better job on our respective tours. The Grand Slams are always going to do well. I think our tours need to do better. And we are lucky to be very historic and very global sport. But I think one of the studies that was done by PTPA three, four years ago, showed that tennis is the third or fourth most popular sport in the world, most watched sport in the world, along with cricket. Number one is obviously football, or soccer as you call it in States. Second one is basketball. Then it's tennis and cricket. But tennis is number 9 or 10 on the list of all sports in terms of using its popularity, commercializing or capitalizing on that. I think there is a huge space for growth.

That we are quite fractioned as a sport. So there's quite a bit of things I think for us to really collectively look at and try to improve it. And we need to grow the number of players that live from this sport. Very rarely do I see in the media that you guys are writing about the fact that you have only 350 or 400 players, both men, women, singles, doubles, across the board who live from this sport on this planet. That's for me deeply concerning. Yes, we talk about the Grand Slam winner wins this or that. Then it's always the focus on the grand prize. But what about the base level? I think we are still doing a very poor job there, very poor job. Tennis is a very global sport and it's loved by millions of children that pick up a racquet and want to play. But we don't make it accessible. We don't make it so affordable. Especially in countries like mine that doesn't have a strong federation, that has Grand Slam or history or big budgets. I think collectively we all have to come together and understand how to maintain the sport's, let's say, foundation or create a new foundation, a cornerstone of really what tennis is about, which is the base level, right, the club level. Now we have the paddle or padel, as you call it in the States, that is growing and emerging.

People kind of have fun with it and say, Yeah, but tennis is tennis. Tennis is the king or queen of all the racquet sports, that's true. But on a club level, tennis is endangered. If we don't do something about it, as I said, globally or collectively, paddle, pickle ball in States, they're going to convert all the tennis clubs into paddle and pickle ball because it's just more economical. You have one tennis court. You can build three paddle courts on one tennis court. You do the simple math. It's just much more financially viable for an owner of a club to have those courts. Those are just some of the things I wanted to share. In the grand scheme of things, I feel like we need to address all of these, I feel like, challenges and issues for us really. They have been out there for a while but I don't think we have been addressing them in a proper way."

Djoker hates pickleball? There is still hope.

 

[Justshort]

There is a lot of difference between you and me.

- You don't have a DP, I have my own.
- You are a new user, I am not
- You are 47, I am much younger to you, despite this you seem agitated and attack me randomly out of the blue, probably some sort of a mid life crisis?

So you and me are not the same, I suggest you drink some water and find something fruitful to do instead of attacking posters for entertainment.

You forgot your Legend status

 

[socallefty]

In the first week of Slams, I like to watch on TV/streaming mostly the fourth and fifth set of interesting matches plus a few matches played by a few top stars from the beginning. Otherwise first week matches played by players outside the top 3/5 have little interest for me to watch from the start and they are interesting only if there is the drama of a longer match. If they make the first week Bestof3, then Slams will become just like other tournaments where I watch only a few matches with top stars in the first few rounds.

I suspect that many casual fans are like me and if they make the first week Bestof3, it will reduce my TV viewing hours of Slams in the first week rather than increase it. So, there might be different needs for fans attending matches on-site who might want shorter matches (if they have short attention spans) than TV-online viewing fans who have the option to switch to more interesting matches when they see interesting scores pop up. Like most people, I watch bits and pieces of interesting matches in the first week rather than full matches of lesser ranked players. So, tennis authorities should carefully consider what they are doing before they make format changes for the first week of Slams.

 

[Crocodile]

I haven’t read all the posts here but lot of the first page that I did read seems to be dedicated to how popular tennis is compared to other sports but I felt that the main focus of Novak’s comments relate to the future of tennis at a grass roots level including the growth of PB, Padel, and you can include Pop tennis or Spec Tennis and Touch Tennis. Novak was concerned about local tennis clubs converting courts to PB courts, the impact it would have on tennis and the engagement of young people to the game and I think that’s where our focus probably should be,

 

[onehandbh]

You missed the most important one, he could have easily created new sports like number of beers consumed in a day, or cigarettes smoked in a round. I bet he would own the centurion club contest.

If the PGA required each player to drink 12 beers an hour before teeing off on their 1st hole, John Daly would be unbeatable.

 

[vokazu]

Congratulations Tsitsipas, our French Open champion lol.

 

[joekapa]

Just want to say - overall some good thoughts from Djokovic. But the idea that tennis is the "third or fourth most popular sport in the world, most watched sport in the world, along with cricket." is laughable. I have no idea how they are arriving at that conclusion or number but it is obviously not correct.

It seems about right to me.