Wimbledon rule change asked for by world No.3 after crashing out in first round

Jessica Pegula claimed that Wimbledon should consider changing the men's tournament to three sets and added that playing best of three is "a lot harder".

The American World No 3 was on the receiving end of a straight sets loss in the first round as she became the biggest casualty of the tournament so far. Pegula struggled to cope with Elisabetta Cocciaretto, who put in a stellar display to down the US Open finalist from last year.

After her loss Pegula opened the debate regarding three sets vs five sets, which continues to separate the sexes at Grand Slams. The men play best of three during Masters events and the 31-year-old believed that the three set affairs are more challenging.

She added that five setters will always lend themselves to the best player eventually coming out on top whilst adding that she herself struggles to watch five hour epics - often turning off.

Pegula said: "100 percent I think it's harder to win two-out-of-three than it is to win three-out-of-five. Not physically, obviously, but I think it always is going to cater to the better player in the long run if you're playing three-out-of-five. I think you'd see a lot more upsets of top players if men played two-out-of-three in slams.

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"It's a lot harder when you don't have that much time. You get down one break, especially for the men, and you're like, Oh, gosh, I'm kind of done. I need some luck. I need someone to choke a little bit. There's a lot to needs to happen. I definitely think three-out-of-five you have way more time to turn around. You do. You have an extra set."

She went on to say that men playing three sets - rather than women playing five - was a better answer than women upping to five. "I would rather the men play two-out-of-three," she said with a smile. "I don't think we all need to start playing three-out-of-five."

"For me it's too long. I personally lose interest watching the matches. I think they're incredible matches and incredible physically and mentally. I'm, like, Do we really need that? I don't know. I mean, some people love it.

"I personally will not watch a full five-hour match. People can't even hold their attention long enough they say these days with phones. How are they holding their attention for five hours? I don't know. Just not my thing."

Pegula also highlighted the advantage for broadcast as she said: "I think it would be a lot easier for TV, for scheduling. I mean, TV's always talking about making everything faster and quicker, all of that stuff. So I don't see why. It's been such a staple for the men. I find it hard to believe they're ever going to change it.

"Maybe if they could also play three-out-of-five from the quarters on. I don't know. Something like that."