Nick Kyrgios believes grand slam matches up until the quarter-finals should be three sets in a radical change to the format.

The enigmatic Australian, who is making his return to tennis from injury at the Brisbane International in December, feels that five-set tennis early in grand slams can be boring with the favourites winning most of the time.

And Kyrgios thinks the scheduling issues that have plagued majors in recent years will be solved by the change.

“I would make Grand Slams best of three up until the quarterfinals. I think it would save us a lot of effort on scheduling,” Kyrgios said on The AO Show podcast.

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“You know the first week’s scheduling gets out of control with both the men’s side and the women’s side playing best of five and sometimes the women’s matches go long, best of three. I mean, men’s matches finishing till 2-3 AM, it’s just not sustainable.

“I think if you made it best of three until the quarterfinals, you’d see some guys break through to the quarterfinals. Obviously then the better players would end up winning best of five anyway.

“So I think a best of three until the quarterfinals and from then on, best of five. That’s what I would immediately change at a Grand Slam.

“How many times have we seen one of the best players in the draw lose the first set and you’re just like, ‘He’s going to come back and win it.’ It’s actually boring.

“If Novak goes down a set or even when Li Tu, he won a set against Alcaraz early on, that was one set all and then it’s one set, that could change Li’s entire career. He beats Alcaraz on centre court and you become a name.”

Kyrgios is expected to play at the Australian Open in January, providing he gets though unscathed from injury at the Brisbane International.

He has struggled with wrist, knee and foot injuries in the past two years, with his most recent grand slam tournament match coming at the US Open in 2022.

Kyrgios’ last competitive match was in June 2023 at the Stuttgart Open.