The Australian Open from 2019 will witness final-set tiebreakers after organisers, on Friday, decided to move away from the existing practice of advantage final sets.
From next year, the final set will be decided after six-games-all with a 10-point tiebreaker. The previous sets, as usual, will have a seven-point tiebreaker if they are locked at six games all.
| Draw | Format |
|---|---|
| Men’s singles main draw | * 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 main draw Men’s and Women’s qualifying Men’s and Women’s doubles Junior qualifying and singles Men’s and Women’s wheelchair singles Quad singles | * Best of three 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 Women’s wheelchair doubles 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. |
“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’s official website quoted its tournament director Craig Tiley.
“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.”
Tiley reckoned the longer tiebreakers will “lessen some of the serving dominance” that can be found in the seven-point ones.
Wimbledon, too, had announced in October that it would use final-set tiebreakers next year.