Tennis: FA Cup-style draws, better fixtures and best-of-three matches in the first week of the Slams – what changes could this bring to the sport?

As another year of tennis begins, let your imagination run wild for a moment.

It’s Monday 30 June 2025 and I’ve just received this report from Wimbledon.

“The defending women’s champion was the first player to walk onto Center Court this year as the All England Club joins another Grand Slam in a year of significant change.

“In the first four rounds of the major, the men and women played best-of-three sets, and after the quarterfinals, all singles matches went to five or more sets.

“The changes to this year’s Australian Open have been well-received. 17:00 local time has been adopted as the default starting point for the night sessions, meaning there will only be one finish after midnight. There is a lot to look forward to later in the year.

“The Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup will be combined to create the Tennis World Cup in September, while the later-season tournament will feature FA Cup-style draws, a quicker scoring format and players having to hit their serves regardless of how hard they throw. It has characteristics.”

You may not like all of the ideas, or even any of them. But change isn’t as difficult as it often seems.

Introducing 5 ideas that will shake up tennis.