ATP boss proposes drastic return to old rule after talks with Roger Federer

chairman Andrea Gaudenzi has proposed a drastic change to some of the tour's biggest events.

Since 2008, all matches at Masters 1000 tournaments have been played in a best-of-three set format when the finals were previously best-of-five.

But the ATP boss is keen to bring back the longer championship matches after having a discussion with .

Players are having less and less chance to get used to best-of-five set matches. The extended format used to be used at the Davis Cup and in the finals of the Olympics and Masters 1000 events.

But all of these tournaments have now moved to a uniformed, shorter schedule which means players need to take two of three sets to win a match. Best-of-five is now only used in men's singles matches at Grand Slams.

With the longer contests dying out, the ATP chairman has now confessed that he would be open to bringing back best-of-five set finals at the nine Masters 1000 tournaments after they were scrapped at the end of 2007.

There has been plenty of debate over whether tennis matches need to be sped up to attract a new audience but Gaudenzi believes the duration isn't an issue and actually wants to see the lengthy finals make a return.

"Tennis has a billion viewers, but in the media it monetises 1.3 per cent. The demand is there, but the sales capacity that can improve it is missing," he told .

"But the game of tennis and the duration are fine. In fact, I would return to the Masters 1000 finals three out of five."

As the chairman of the professional men's tennis tour, the Italian confirmed that it would be down to the ATP to make the change - but it won't come just yet.

Gaudenzi was encouraged to rethink the Masters 1000 final format after a recent chat with Federer. He added: "It would be our decision.

"Not now but I also spoke about it with Federer at the Laver Cup. The best matches in the history of tennis have been best of five sets and we cannot have a sport where in thirty years no one will remember the great matches."

The retired former world No. 18 also addressed the issue of younger fans' attention spans, claiming that live sport was its own category that couldn't compete with social media.

Gaudenzi continued: "I have three teenage children and I experience the 'problem' of attention. Maybe with a television available, they watch TV series on their cell phones because in the meantime they do other things.

"For me, the target of sports is not that of under 18s, it never has been. We have to ask ourselves if our children will be passionate about tennis when they are 30. That target is video games and you understand that there is no sport that can compete.

"There are TikTok, Spotify and Netflix, things that give you an immediate adrenaline rush. Then you play sports and go to watch them live, that's another matter."

While nothing is set in stone, there have been plenty of divisive changes made on the tour in recent years so it wouldn't be a surprise if tennis bosses revert to old ways for Masters 1000 championship matches.