Tennis

Former NRL boss Andrew Abdo has made several bold statements surrounding the future of the Australian Open under his new role at Tennis Australia CEO, much to the horror of purists.

Read more Football

In one of several controversial suggestions at the SportNXT sport business summit at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre earlier this week, Abdo revealed grand slams could look to ditch five-set matches and change the current tennis scoring system in future tournaments.

Abdo took over the top job at Tennis Australia from Craig Tilley last month, which also includes overseeing the running of the Australian Open each January. 

Despite the AO welcoming record-breaking crowds to Melbourne Park in 2026 — amidst twin complaints of overcrowding and over-commercialisation — Abdo made little secret that major changes may be required to maintain and grow the event’s current audience in coming years.

MORE: Nick Kyrgios cleared for immediate tennis return after stunning drug ban reversal

“There’s a lot to be proud of, but we can’t sit still,” Abdo said.

“We’re No. 3 in Australia at the moment in terms of participation and I think we can get to No. 1 over the next five years.”

As for how the AO might actually achieve that, Abdo indicated virtually every option would be on the table.

Read more Fire and Roses Joker Diamonds Slot Review

“Maybe in the future slams at the different rounds or at different lengths of duration… we’re not playing best of five all the way through, maybe the point scoring system changes,” Abdo said.

“Maybe there are different permutations to how we engage and entertain audiences without losing the fabric, and what really makes the sport special.

“I think those are the questions that we need to explore and discover, and I think there’s a place for evolving that.”

With strong echoes of his time at the helm of the hugely ambitious NRL alongside Peter V’landys, Abdo insisted tennis has no option but to be ambitious. 

“We have to be restless, we have to be curious and we have to find new ways to connect to audiences,” he declared.

“In a couple of months’ time the AO27 will be the best grand slam that we’ve put on… and the vision we have to have is to be not only the best slam in the world, we want this to be one of the most iconic events in the world.”

Read more Bettors Outperform Bookmakers At FIFA World Cup 2026