Call to shorten final

Japan’s Daniel urges three sets

AUSTRALIAN Open men’s players are discussing the option of throwing out history for one year and making the grand slam a best-of-threesets format.

Japan’s Taro Daniel, who is set to compete at Melbourne Park as a “lucky loser”, wasn’t the instigator of the idea but wants tournament director Craig Tiley to give it serious thought.

Daniel is one of 72 players so far confined to hotel rooms without the option of leaving for his fortnight of hard quarantine, because of positive COVID-19 cases on their charter flights.

The world No 117, who boasts a career-high ranking of 64, has only a foam roller at this stage for fitness purposes — and understands equipment like exercise bikes are going to be at a premium.

“A few players came up with the idea to bring it down to three sets this time, which I think would make a lot of sense,” Daniel said.

“Because even for guys who are able to train these two weeks, it’s not optimal training. You’re limited to two hours a day and one hour of gym — so five sets would be pretty brutal this time.

“I think Craig’s aware of it and I’m sure he’s thought of it himself, but then obviously there’s the whole historical, five-set thing they need to break down.

“I have no idea if they’ll be able to do it or not, but I think perhaps they should.”

Daniel said the pandemic was exacerbating the chasm between the game’s elite and the rest, pointing to the comparative luxuries of the players quarantining in Adelaide.

Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Dominic Thiem, Simona Halep, Naomi Osaka and Serena and Venus Williams are in South Australia for the exhibition event on January 29.

“People in Adelaide are being able to hit with four people on court, so there’s some resentment towards that as well,” the 27-year-old said.

“Tennis always has these very unfair treatments towards top players and lower players, especially during grand slams.”