The All England Lawn Tennis Club, home to the Wimbledon championships, announced on Friday that players will go into a final set tie-breaker once tied at 12-12 in the decider from 2019. Historically the fifth set of Grand Slam events (except for the US Open) has been decided by a two-game advantage, but now Wimbledon has joined the US Open with a much easier two-point advantage being the new deciding factor for final victory in a tied match, reports Efe news agency.
“Our view was that the time had come to introduce a tie-break method for matches that had not reached their natural conclusion at a reasonable point during the deciding set,” the tourney website cited AELTC Chairman Philip Brook as saying.
“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 time frame,” he added.
The decision comes after a 6.5-hour-long semi-final pitting John Isner of the United States against Kevin Anderson of South Africa that saw the latter prevailing in the decider 26-24. That 2018 semi was the second longest match in Wimbledon history, as Frenchman Nicolas Mahut and Isner set the record with a first round match in 2010 that lasted 11 hours and 5 minutes, with the American taking the fifth set 70-68.
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