Tournament Director Craig Tiley has announced a format change at the Australian Open starting at next month's championship.
It is official, from the 2019 Australian Open the final set of matches in singles at the year’s first major, will a tiebreak and that leaves the French Open as the only one of the majors to have an advantage final set. The US Open has a regular tiebreak and Wimbledon will start the final set breaker at 12-12 in the final set.
That final set breaker in Melbourne will be decided after six-games-all with the longer of the tiebreak formats – first to ten points.
The decision comes following the most extensive consultation in the tournament’s history.
“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 Tournament Director Craig Tiley said.
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“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.”
This is the breakdown:
MEN’S SINGLES:
• Best-of-five tiebreak sets.
• The first-four sets seven-point tiebreak at six-games-all.
• The final set 10-point tiebreak at six-games-all.
WOMEN’S SINGLES, MEN’S AND WOMEN’S QUAIFYING, MEN’S AND WOMEN’S DOUBLES, JUNIORS, MEN’S AND WOMENS WHEELCHAIR QUAD SINGLES:
• Best of three set tiebreak sets
• The first-two sets seven-point tiebreak at six-games-all.
• The final set 10-point tiebreak at six-games-all.
MIXED DOUBLES, JUNIOR DOUBLES, MEN’S AND WOMENS WHEELCHAIR QUAD DOUBLES:
• Best-of-two tiebreak sets.
• The first-two sets seven-point tiebreak at six-games-all.
• A 10-point match tiebreak for the third set.
LEGENDS:
Fast 4 format
Well … what do you think of the changes?
