LONDON — Every so often, a debate bubbles up around whether it makes sense for men to keep playing best-of-five-set matches at Wimbledon and other Grand Slam tournaments. Consider Novak Djokovic a staunch advocate for keeping the format — at least in the latter stages of majors.
He would be OK, however, with cutting back to best-of-three earlier.
There were 34 matches that went the distance at the All England Club across the first three rounds, the most to that point at any Slam in the history of the Open era, which began in 1968. As the fourth of seven rounds began Sunday, all it was going to take was one more five-setter to equal the mark for the most at an entire major tournament.
''Nowadays you can only see them in Grand Slams, right? That's what I guess excites both players and the crowd,'' said Djokovic, who has won seven of his men's-record 24 major championships at Wimbledon.
The allure is tied to the drama associated with the possibility of comebacks, of twists and turns.
Perhaps he's a bit biased: Djokovic is 40-11 in five-setters. He hasn't been pushed that far during this edition of Wimbledon.
''I enjoyed those throughout my career,'' he said. ''They're an important aspect of the history and of the future, as well, of the sport.''
But the 37-year-old from Serbia, who has spent the most weeks ranked No. 1, did concede that there is merit to arguments made against sticking with the best-of-five format in this day and age of limited attention spans and, as Djokovic put it, the need "to attract a young audience.''
