Andy Murray: "If the women were asked to play 5-set matches, I'm sure they'd be more than capable and willing to do that"
Former World No. 1 Andy Murray recently had his say on the growing debate over the length of men's and women's tennis matches.
Murray has always been known for his pro-feminist views in tennis. From calling out casual sexism during a press conference to openly criticizing Wimbledon's 'sexist' scheduling to promoting equal pay in tennis, Murray has been vocal about the inequality in the sport. He also earned praise from several players including tennis greats, Serena Williams and Billie Jean King, for the same.
In a recent interview with Yahoo.com, Andy Murray spoke about a lot of issues and addressed the debate over the length of men's and women's tennis matches.
Elaborating further, the three-time Grand Slam winner said that it is not a case of the authorities forcing the WTA players to play five-set matches against their will as the female tennis stars might be "more than willing" to do that.
Murray also said that while the WTA players might be capable of doing that, the decision will not be made by the players but by the authorities.
“If it was something that the women were completely against doing and they were being asked and the tournament were really pushing them to play best of five sets then maybe that’s a different discussion there but my understanding is that that’s not what it is,” he said.
“If the women were asked to play five-set matches I’m sure they would be more than capable and more than willing to do that. But I don’t think it’s their decision … so that’s the end of the argument, for me," Andy Murray added.
Andy Murray will lock horns with Ryan Peniston in the opening round of Wimbledon 2023
Andy Murray will take on fellow British player and wildcard entrant Ryan Peniston in the first round of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships. Murray, a two-time Wimbledon winner, is unseeded in the tournament and might face Stefanos Tsitsipas in the second round.
Murray suffered a first-round loss at the Queen's Club Championship earlier this month. Despite that, the 36-year-old has had a good start to his grass-court swing of the season, winning two consecutive titles at Surbiton and Nottingham.
Murray last won the Wimbledon title in 2016, when he defeated Milos Raonic in the summit clash. During his maiden title-winning run at Wimbledon, he beat Novak Djokovic in the final.