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What's a 'five-set match'?

In Grand Slam tennis, men's matches are played as 'best of five sets'. This means a player needs to win three sets to secure victory. These matches can be very long and physically demanding, especially when they go to a deciding fifth set, as Alcaraz and Shelton's match did.

Stories that explain this

Carlos Alcaraz lost to Ben Shelton in US Open's latest match.

Related explainers

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