Anderson: Fifth-set epics endanger players’ health
Kevin Anderson warned that tournament organisers are endangering players’ health by not introducing five-set tie-breakers after his marathon semi-final victory against John Isner.
Anderson prevailed 26-24 in a fifth set that lasted just under three hours, meaning the second men’s semi-final between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal could not be completed last night. The Andersonisner match also took a significant physical toll on both men, and the victor has proposed introducing a tie-break should a match reach 12-12 in the fifth.
“I think that’s a fair balance,” Anderson said. “If a match is 12-12 in the fifth set, I don’t think it needs to continue. The amount of times it gets to that point is pretty rare. I think it protects the players’ health as well. Because being out there for this length can be pretty damaging from a health standpoint, too.”
Isner also lent his support to the proposal. “I agree with Kevin,” he said. “I personally think a sensible option would be 12-12. If one person can’t finish the other off before 12-12, then do a tie-breaker there. I think it’s long overdue. I mean, I’m a big part of that, a big part of this discussion, of course.”
Seven-time major champion Mats Wilander also backs five-set tie-breaks. “People talk about the drama of the set that goes on and on,” Wilander told The Daily Telegraph. “But it leaves one guy exhausted for the next round, it’s horrible for the players waiting to come on court, and it has the poten- tial to mess up the schedule for everyone.
“Even for the spectators, I’m not sure how satisfying it is. I was out there on court in the middle of the Anderson-isner match, and it was a good atmosphere, but they would have been looking forward to seeing Djokovic and Nadal as well, so I’m sure they would have settled for a tie-break in the fifth.
“The problem is that as you keep going through these matches, your energy runs low. And then you start to focus just on holding your own serve, which means that the chances of a break drop, and the whole thing just lasts longer and longer. Even afterwards, you risk leaving everyone feeling a bit flat and exhausted for the next match.”
The US Open is the one major that employs a tie-break in the fifth set when the score reaches six-all. The others keep going, although they all have their own individual policies if you take men’s doubles into account.
Wimbledon plays unlimited best-of-five sets there too, which gave rise to the 5hr 2 min firstround-match that British duo Jay Clarke and Cameron Norrie lost to Marcelo Arevalo and Hans Podlipnik-castillo, by a 6-4, 6-7, 5-7, 6-4, 22-20 margin.
The Australian Open plays unlimited best-of-three sets in men’s doubles, while the French Open has a third-set tie-break to their doubles matches.
Wimbledon is the spiritual home of the longest matches. Despite ending at 6hr 36 min, yesterday’s semi-final was still 4hr 30 min short of the record, set by the famous three-day contest between Isner and Nicolas Mahut in 2010.