ISTANBUL, Turkey - Not a soul would have batted an eyelid had Victoria Azarenka, after a hard-fought victory over Sara Errani, retreated to the comfort and rest of her own room to recuperate and prepare herself for the greater challenges that lie ahead.

But the Belarussian would decide on the complete opposite. Instead, Azarenka could be found standing on top of the highest cliff as she shouted to the world below. The message she delivered was one that, in light of the constant discussions and deliberations, needed to be delivered with her typically blunt delivery. The topic was about women competing the best-of-five-set format, and the answer was as clear as day.

“It's been brought so much into press, and I think we can stand by one opinion that all the women have:  we're ready to play whatever it is,” said Azarenka.

It was fighting talk. In the past, players have shied away from the subject when asked about the possibility of playing the best-of-five format. Sometimes out of unamused disinterest, and other times out of unbridled irritation at the obsession with such trivial causes as women playing a best-of-three format at majors and male players attempting to undermine their equal prize money. But here she was, attacking  the subject head-on.

And Azarenka was far from the only one to address it. In fact, none other than WTA CEO Stacey Allaster initiated the debate by stating that the  women were ready to play best of five sets.

“We prefer three-set matches, but if the Grand Slam tournaments require us to play as long as the men, we want to say that we are ready to do that.” Allaster said at the time.

Not to be outdone, Venus Williams and Angelique Kerber inserted themselves into the conversation while speaking to AFP earlier in the month, coming out in uncompromising support of women players’ capability to play best of five sets.

“Sure, not a problem,” dismissed Venus. “If we have to play best-of-three, we play best-of-three. If it's best-of-five that's fine too. Either way it's not a problem.”

“I think we are fit and strong enough to play five sets,” asserted Kerber.

 Skeptics suggest that these conveniently consistent comments were the result of a cunning WTA PR campaign from the players. As stated by the women themselves, it is clear that there is little chance of majors choosing to switch the women to the best-of-five format any time in the near future. They already struggle to complete a fortnight of 128 singles matches as it is, and women’s tennis as five sets would only further complicate timekeeping, bloat the impossible-to-predict television schedules and offer little positive in return. Thus, theoretically, the women can freely profess their willingness to compete in this extended format without fear of such project ever being undertaken.

Still, the pressing question perhaps is not whether women are capable of playing best of five sets—but whether it would really be worth it. For years, the final of the WTA Championships was staged in the best-of-five format. Over the years, it produced a few good matches, but mostly these finals were characterized by four-set matches that never came close to the final-set drama that best-of-three battles produce. Instead they were stuck in a limbo, neither a straight-sets blowout or an excitingly competitive affair.  At a time when tennis is becoming increasingly more physical, it would seem irresponsible to increase the workload and continue the trend of pushing tennis further away from its traditional skill set of hand-eye-coordination and specialized talent toward a sport overwhelmingly based on physicality.

But there is another reason why Azarenka played her cards so well. When asked to elaborate on her views, she reacted with a chuckle before thrusting herself further forward in her seat and addressing those in front of her with as much intensity as she had done when staring down the barrel of a 2-5 first set deficit against Errani.

“I would say that men should play best of three,“ Azarenka asserted. Indeed, if there are male players so disgruntled at women earning the same amount of money for less, perhaps they should entertain the possibility that it is the format of their own tour that should be changed.