"John McEnroe has lost his mind";"It's not broke, don't fix it" - Fans reject American's "10-point tiebreak" proposal to speed up matches at Slams

John McEnroe has put forth his opinion on a change that should be made at the Grand Slam tournaments to speed matches up. According to McEnroe, matches that need five sets to be decided should feature a ten-point tiebreak at the end of the fourth set instead of a separate fifth set. However, the former World No. 1's take has been dismissed by the majority of tennis fans.

Men's matches at Majors continue to be first-to-three-sets encounters. As a result, clashes that go the distance often take more than four hours, sometimes five, to finish, making it difficult for the viewers to watch from start to finish. However, matches at all other ATP Tour-level events are played in the first-to-two-sets format.

McEnroe recently took part in a conference call, during which he said that if it were up to him, he still would keep the Grand Slams different from the rest of the events on the ATP Tour and not turn matches at Majors to first-to-two-sets affairs.

However, the seven-time singles Grand Slam winner said that replacing the fifth set with a ten-point tiebreak at the end of the fourth set makes sense from an accessibility standpoint.

“I was always looking for that solution in the middle, which is best-of-five, but say a 10-point tiebreaker at the end of the fourth set. That would be my compromise. I wouldn’t make it two-out-of-three now at the majors. I would still have it different. But we want this sport to grow, for God’s sake. We shoot ourselves in the foot all the time. I don’t understand it. We have this incredible sport, so we should try to make it as accessible, so that they want to tune in. That would be a no-brainer personally. I mean, I’ve been saying that for 30 years," McEnroe said.

Tennis fans on X (formerly Twitter) though, were less than impressed with what McEnroe had to say. One set of them turned critical of the 65-year-old, opining that he should keep his opinions to himself.

"FFS somebody put him to pasture. If anything, 3 sets with NO final set TB would be better," one fan wrote.

"I believe John McEnroe should stop talking and spend that time doing even the most basic of research on the players whose matches he covers as a commentator," another fan commented.

"Hahaha wtf, McEnroe has lost his mind," another fan chimed in.

Another set of fans rejected McEnroe's suggestion through a more logical lens.

"A 10 points tie-break is still a kind of lottery. A match with 2-2 in sets deserves a better ending. Keep a full fifth set like it is now. And maybe better planning by the organizers to prevent matches ending at midnight or even later," wrote a fan.

"Ask a cross-section of tennis fans (of any age) to list the Top 5 matches of their lifetimes off the top of their head. Nearly every answer you get will be a match that went 5 sets. It's not broke. Don't fix it," commented another fan.

"Nope. Actually I really liked what they did in Wimbledon 2019 with a 7 point TB at 12-12. Perhaps that should still be done for the Finals?" asked a fan.

"Honestly, if you already played your heart out for four entire sets, a match tie break would feel hugely unfair and anticlimactic. All that effort for nothing when you double fault once and your opponent gets a good string of first serves. No way," another fan weighed in.

"No linesmen" - John McEnroe's radical 2015 idea

In 2015, McEnroe had come up with another unconventional suggestion, which, in his opinion, could have made tennis more exciting. The former World No. 1 told the media that he would prefer linesmen to be removed from the sport and that players should call their lines.

"If you really want to get it more exciting: no linesmen. And have the players call their lines. That would make the game more exciting, I promise you. It would be awesome," McEnroe had said.

However, line umpires continue to play pivotal roles in tennis, despite the seven-time singles Major winner's take on removing them. McEnroe has also faced plenty of criticism over his commentary, which, according to many, continues to be of poor quality.