Australian Open to have final set tiebreakers from next year

The Australian Open is going to have final set tie-breaks from its upcoming 2019 edition.

According to the new rules, the final set will be decided after six games all with the longer of the tiebreak formats which means that the first player to get ten points after 6-6 would be declared as the winner.

Tournament director Craig Tiley said that the decision was taken after extensive consultation with those associated with the game. A ten-point tie break at six games all gets approval as this format is expected to give fans a special finale to epic contests, Tiley added.

“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,” Australian Open official website quoted Tiley, as saying.

“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. We believe this is the best possible outcome for both the players and the fans around the world,” Tiley continued.

In October, Wimbledon had also introduced a final set tie-break in all the events of the championship. According to the changed rules, once the score reaches 12-12 in the final set of all the matches of the tournament, the match winner(s) will be the first player(s) to win seven points with an advantage of two or more points.

The US Open was the first major Grand Slam event to introduce final set tie-breaks. In this tournament, the first player to get to seven points at 6-6 is the winner.

With the Australian Open also introducing the final set tie-break, the French Open is the only Grand Slam event left which does not have a tie-breaker in the fifth set.