The N.B.A. continually fights the perception that fans do not need to tune in to games until the second half, or the fourth quarter. At the four Grand Slam tennis events, the opposite is true, especially in the early rounds.

The tennis majors — Wimbledon and the United States, Australian and French Opens — feature best-of-five-set men’s singles matches instead of the best-of-three format used by most other tournaments. Yet in the first week of these events, when the players ranked highest are pitted against those ranked lowest, the first to take two sets almost always wins the match. Last year, it happened in 94 percent of the matches in the first three rounds of the French Open.

With players retiring from Grand Slam matches in increasing numbers and complaining about the toll the long season takes on their bodies, they are being subjected to hours of extra tennis that usually has little effect on the outcome. Spectators and television viewers endure these time-wasters as well. And when rain complicates schedules, as it has at nearly every recent Grand Slam event, those extra sets add to the chaos.

The 59 completed first-round men’s singles matches at last year’s French Open, including 32 that were decided in straight sets, featured 75 fourth or fifth sets. In only two matches did the first player to win two sets fail to win a third.