From 2019 the Australian Open will replace advantage final sets with a 10-point tiebreaker for the first time in its history.
The decision by the Melbourne major follows the example set by the US Open, which has used standard tiebreakers in the deciding set since 1970. Under the new scoring rules, once the final set reaches 6-6, a super-tiebreak will then take place. The winner will be the first player to reach ten points with a least a two-point lead.
“We asked the players – both past and present, commentators, agents and TV analysts whether they wanted to play an advantage final set or not, and went from there,” Tournament Director Craig Tiley said in a statement.
“We went with a 10-point tiebreak at six-games-all in the final set to ensure the fans still get a special finale to these often epic contests, with the longer tiebreak still then allowing for that one final twist or change of momentum in the contest. This longer tiebreak also can lessen some of the serving dominance that can prevail in the shorter tiebreak.”
It was first reported at the start of this month that the Grand Slam Board had granted permission to the Australian Open to change their scoring system. Tournament chief Tiley believes the move is the ‘best possible outcome’ for both players and fans. The traditional seven-point tiebreaker will still be used in the sets leading up to the decider.
Calls for the use of final set tiebreakers erupted earlier this year following two marathon men’s semi-final matches that took place at Wimbledon. Kevin Anderson required six hours and 36 minutes to defeat John Isner. Then Novak Djokovic spent more than five hours to overcome Rafael Nadal. The length of those matches meant that Djokovic’s clash had to be finished the following day, which caused a delay to the start of the women’s final.
Next year Wimbledon will also introduce a final set tiebreak, but in a different format. At The All England Club, when the score reaches 12-12 in the decider a standard seven-point tiebreak will take place. It was at Wimbledon, where the longest tennis match is history took place. Nicolas Mahut defeated John Isner 6-4, 3-6, 6-7(9), 7-6(3), 70-68, after more than 11 hours of play over three days.
Next year, three out of the four grand slam events will not play advantage final sets. The French Open is yet to indicate if they will follow suit or not in the future.
The 2019 Australian Open will get underway on January 14th. Roger Federer and Caroline Wozniacki are the defending champions.
