Wimbledon move to end long sets

London – Wimbledon will introduce tie-breaks in the final set of all events for the first time next year, but only once the score in the deciding set reaches 12-12, the All England Lawn Tennis Club announced yesterday.

“Our view was that the time had come to introduce a tie-break for matches that had not reached their natural conclusion at a reasonable point,” said chairman Philip Brook.

A tie-break is normally played to decide the set when the score reaches 6-6. However, until now the US Open has been the only Grand Slam that uses a tiebreak in the fifth set.

In this year’s Wimbledon men’s final, South African Kevin Anderson lost to Novak Djokovic in straight sets less than two days after beating John Isner 26-24 in the fifth set. –