Another historical tradition of the tennis world falls down: the Davis Cup committee has introduced a tiebreaker in the final set. No more exhausting matches, no more endless encounters in packed stadiums, no more grueling marathons with no finish line in sight. The long set had its last gasp this winter, when Leonardo Mayer and Joao Souza established the new Davis Cup record for the longest match: 6 hours and 42 minutes, 15-13 in the decider for Mayer.
The decision of whether or not to introduce a tiebreaker in the deciding set has always found two sharply divided factions, each with their own reasons. Traditionalists against innovators, romantics against pragmatists. Traditionalists argue that there have been already too many changes in the sport and that a longer fifth set increases fans’ participation, producing memorable matches and creating also a greater attention in the media. And there is actually dozens of games that could come in support of this thesis, matches that have made the history of tennis; matches that went on for hours and hours, point after point, always on the edge.
Innovators, instead, believe that tennis needs to be modernized, that it needs to be sped up to keep pace with the times (especially TV ones). They argue that matches of 5-6 hours are detrimental to the athletes and to TVs and tournaments schedules that have to go through major changes.
The feeling is that innovators are probably going to have the last word and that also the three remaining Slams Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon are going to follow the example set by the US Open and the Davis Cup. Maybe in doing so we’ll lose some of that magic that vibrates in the air when the match goes on and on without signs of stopping, but it is also a step forward in preserving the players’ health, and it represents probably a smart move in the long term.
