None of the four grand slam tournaments will feature extended final sets any more after it was announced on Wednesday that the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open will all enforce a 10-point tie-break once the score reaches 6-6 in the final set of any match.
The new scoring rules will begin at the French Open in May, having first been introduced as a trial this year. Tennis has increasingly scrutinised the length of matches in recent years, particularly after some excessively long men’s fifth sets involving big servers such as John Isner.
“Further to extensive consultation with the WTA, ATP, ITF and tennis officiating community, the Grand Slam Board’s decision is based on a strong desire to create greater consistency in the rules of the game at the grand slams, and thus enhance the experience for the players and fans alike,” read a joint statement.
In recent years the four majors have each enforced different rules in the final set of singles matches. Since the pandemic began, however, the governing bodies have worked more closely together on certain issues, allowing them to convene and produce more consistent decisions.
The decision will not be universally popular. Many classic matches have occurred over extended final sets and this ruling means that they have essentially been eradicated from the top level of the sport after changes to the Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup formats.
Likewise, while events in the men’s tournaments have driven these changes, it is unclear what benefits this new format brings to the already shorter best-of-three sets matches that women are required to compete in.
Novak Djokovic will be able to defend his title at Roland Garros as things stand, according to the tournament director, Amélie Mauresmo.
Djokovic was denied the right to enter Australia for the year’s first grand slam due to his unvaccinated status and was also ruled out of a tournament in Indian Wells for the same reason. However, France largely lifted coronavirus restrictions this week, with the exception of certain areas such as hospitals and nursing homes.
Mauresmo told a press conference on Wednesday: “As things stand, nothing stands in the way of Djokovic taking part in the French Open.”
Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal and Nick Kyrgios will face each other for the first time in two years as both players reached the quarter-finals of the BNP Paribas Open. On Wednesday night, Nadal moved to 18-0 in the season by defeating American Reilly Opelka 7- 6(3), 7-6 (5) in the fourth round.
This has already been an eventful week for Nadal, who recovered from 2-5 in the third set and a double break deficit to defeat Sebastian Korda in the second round and then he became the first man in history to win 400 matches at ATP Masters 1000 tournaments.
He will face a relaxed, in-form opponent in Kyrgios, the beneficiary of a fourth round walkover from Jannik Sinner, who withdrew due to illness. However, Kyrgios routinely defeated 8th seed Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-4 in his previous round and he has not yet dropped a set.
