For the first time, the Australian Open will have final-set tiebreakers for men’s

matches that reach a fifth set and women’s matches that go to a third set. The tournament joins Wimbledon in eliminating the possibility of never-ending final sets; previously the U.S. Open was the only major with a last-set tiebreaker.

The tiebreaker in Australia will come at 6-all and will be won by whichever player is the first to 10 points, ahead by at least two; at Wimbledon later in the year, the tiebreaker will be the standard first-to-seven, winby-two format, but it will be used only when the final set reaches 12-all. Also changing in Melbourne in 2019: A “heat stress scale” will take into account temperature, radiant heat, humidity and wind speed and could lead to 10-minute suspensions of men’s matches before a fourth set, following the lead of last year’s U.S. Open. Women’s matches will continue to have the possibility of a 10-minute break before a third set. Key stat: 24 – Margaret Court’s all-time mark for most Grand Slam singles titles, one more than Williams’ haul, which stands as the record for the professional era. Prize money: A tournament-record total of 62.5 million Australian dollars (about $45 million), with 4.1 million Australian dollars (about $3 million) each to the men’s and women’s singles champions.

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