Big W to introduce tiebreakers in final set from next year

LONGEST MEN’S SINGLES MATCHES

LONDON: That epic 70-68 fifth set at Wimbledon will never be matched or surpassed, or even challenged.

The All England Club said Friday it will introduce final-set tiebreakers next year, starting when the score reaches 12-12 in the decider.

The grass-court Grand Slam tournament is the second of the four majors to use a final-set tiebreaker to determine a singles match - either the fifth set in a men’s match or the third set for the women. The U.S. Open, however, starts its final-set tiebreakers at 6-6.

At the Australian Open and the French Open, players still have to win by two games in the final set in singles matches.

“Our view was that the time had come to introduce a tiebreak method for matches that had not reached their natural conclusion at a reasonable point during the deciding set,” Wimbledon chairman Philip Brook said in a statement.

In a tiebreaker, the first player to get seven points - leading by at least two points - wins the set.

In 2010, John Isner and Nicolas Mahut played the longest match in tennis history at Wimbledon. The match took more than 11 hours and lasted over three days before Isner won 70-68 in the final set.

This year, eventual finalist Kevin Anderson played a pair of long matches late in the tournament.

He beat eight-time champion Roger Federer 13-11 in the fifth set in the quarter-finals, and 11:05 hrs John Isner (United States) beat Nicolas Mahut (France), 2010

Score: 6–4, 3–6, 6–7(7–9), 7–6(7–3), 70–68 in three days

06:36 hrs Kevin Anderson (South Africa) beat John Isner (United States), 2018

Score: 7–6(8–6), 6–7(5–7), 6–7(9–11), 6–4, 26–24

05:31 hrs Marin Cilic (Croatia) beat Sam Querrey (United States), 2012

Score: 7–6(8–6), 6–4, 6–7(2–7), 6–7(3–7), 17–15

05:28 hrs Second Greg Holmes (United States) beat Todd Witsken (US), 1989

Score: 5–7, 6–4, 6–4(7–5), 4–6, 14–12 then defeated Isner 26-24 in the fifth in the semi-finals.

In the other semi-final match, Novak Djokovic beat Rafael Nadal 10-8 in the fifth set.

Two of those three matches would still be possible.

“While we know the instances of matches extending deep into the final set are rare, we feel that a tie-break at 12-12 strikes an equitable balance between allowing players ample opportunity to complete the match to advantage, while also providing certainty that the match will reach a conclusion in an acceptable timeframe,” Brook said.

Other notable long matches include Federer’s victory over Andy Roddick in the 2009 final, winning 16-14 in the fifth set.