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According to the new rules, which will come
into force at the Jan. 14-27 event, matches tied at 6-6 in the
final set will move into a tiebreak and the first player to
reach 10 points with a difference of two will win the contest.
"We asked the players - both past and present, commentators,
agents and TV analysts whether they wanted to play an advantage
final set or not and went from there," Tiley said https://ausopen.com/articles/news/final-set-tiebreaks-australian-open-2019.
Wimbledon said in October that next year's Championships at the
All England Lawn Tennis Club would feature a tiebreak when the
score reaches 12-12 in the final set of all matches.
The move came after this year's semi-final between American John
Isner and South Africa's Kevin Anderson turned into an epic
marathon in which the final set alone, won 26-24 by Anderson,
lasted almost three hours.
"We went with a 10-point tiebreak at six-all in the final set to
ensure fans still get a special finale to these contests, with
the longer tiebreak allowing for that one final twist or change
of momentum in the contest," Tiley said.
"This longer tiebreak also can lessen some of the serving
dominance that can prevail in the shorter tiebreak. We believe
this is the best possible outcome for both the players and the
fans around the world."
The Australian Open's move means that each of the four Grand
Slams has a different way of deciding the final set.
The U.S. Open employs traditional tiebreaks even in the final
set, with the first player to reach seven points with a
difference of two declared the winner.
The French Open does not have a final set tiebreak, with matches
continuing until a player secures a two-game lead in the
decider.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby
Davis)
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