Tennis star calls for controversial rule to be introduced that would change the sport after first-round Wimbledon loss
Tennis star Jessica Pegula has suggested introducing a major new rule that would change the sport forever after her first-round defeat at Wimbledon.
Pegula suffered a shock straight sets loss to unseeded Italian player Elisabetta Cocciaretto on the second morning at Wimbledon on Tuesday.
The American struggled against serve and was broken twice by her 24-year-old opponent during the second and final set.
Her match lasted just 58 minutes on Court Two as the number three seed - who reached the quarter-final of Wimbledon last year - bowed out from the tournament early.
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Afterwards, Pegula was asked in a press conference about whether she would prefer to play a best-of-three set match - which women currently play - or the best-of-five format used in men's Grand Slam tournaments.
She replied: "I think I would rather the men play two out of three!
"I don't think we all need to start playing three out of five. For me, it's just too long, and I personally lose interest in watching the matches.
"I think they're incredible and incredible physically and mentally, but I'm just like, do we really need that? I don't know. Some people love it, but me personally, I will not watch a full five-hour match.
"People can't even hold their attention long enough these days, they say, with their phones. How are they holding their attention for five hours? I don't know. It's just not my thing."
Advocating for the male players to switch to a two out of three format, Pegula explained: "I think it's harder to win two out of three than it is three out of five.
š£ļø "I personally lose interest."
ā BBC Sport (@BBCSport) July 1, 2025
World number three Jessica Pegula hopes women's matches at #Wimbledon stay three sets long.
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"Not physically, obviously, but I think it's always going to cater to the better player in the long run if you're playing three out of five. I think you'd see a lot more upsets of top players if men played two out of three in Slams."
Male players do play best-of-three set matches at certain ATP Tour events, though Grand Slams are always played over a best-of-five.
Pegula is not the first player this week to be asked about whether women should switch to five sets.
World number one Aryna Sabalenka was also quizzed on the matter after she defeated Carson Branstine in straight sets on Monday.
However, she echoed Pegula's overall stance.
"Probably, physically, I'm one of the strongest ones, so maybe it would benefit me," she told reporters.
"But I think it's too much on the woman's body. I think we're not ready for this amount of tennis. I think it would increase the amount of injuries. So I think this is not something I would consider.
"For someone watching, it's amazing to see five hours of great tennis. But I'm not really jealous to stay there for five hours as a player. I don't know how many days they needed to recover."
Where to buy Wimbledon tickets
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Ryan Smart