Tim Henman would have reached the Wimbledon final if proposed rule change was introduced sooner

Former British No1 Heather Watson has called for men's tennis to be limited to three sets.

Men play best of five sets at the four Grand Slam events — Wimbledon and the Australian, French and US Opens — as well as the Davis Cup. All other tournaments are best of three.

“I would be really interested to see the men’s point of view and whether they actually want to play to five sets,” Watson told the Standard.

“It changes the dynamic of the game a lot and I feel like more recently, because the weather conditions are really tough in some of these Grand Slams, like Australia and New York, it gets really hot and you see far more retirements in the matches.

Here, Standard Sport looks back at classic matches that we'd have missed had Watson's proposal been in place.

2008 Wimbledon final

Roger Federer v Rafael Nadal​

The epic final finished in near darkness as Federer clawed his way back from two sets down, only to lose 9-7 in the final set.

1980 Wimbledon final

John McEnroe v Bjorn Borg

McEnroe saved seven match points but could not overcome Borg, who triumphed in the fifth set 8–6.

2010 US Open semi-final

Roger Federer v Novak Djokovic

Djokovic saved two match points in a stunning win over Federer to end the Swiss player’s run of six consecutive US Open finals.

2010 Wimbledon first round

John Isner v Nicolas Mahut

The longest match in tennis history took 11 hours and five minutes over three days, with Isner winning the final set 70-68. Both players received a crystal bowl and champagne flutes as a special recognition.

2001 Wimbledon semi-final

Tim Henman v Goran Ivanisevic

If men’s matches were only best of three, at least Henman would have made a Grand Slam final. He went two

sets to one up against eventual champion Ivanisevic ... then a rain delay helped swing the momentum in the Croat’s favour.