Australian Open to introduce 10-point tie-break in final set

Madrid, Dec 21 (IANS) The Australian Open Tournament is set to introduce a 10-point tie-break should the players be tied at 6-6 in the final set -- the fifth set in the men's competition and the third in the women's -- as of 2019, the organisers announced on Friday.Current and former players were all involved in the decision to change the current format, the organisers of the Australian Open said, reports Efe."We went with a 10-point tie-break at six-games-all in the final set to ensure the fans still get a special finale to these often epic contests, with the longer tie-break still then allowing for that one final twist or change of momentum in the contest," Australian Open director Craig Tiley said in a statement on the tournament website."This longer tie-break also can lessen some of the serving dominance that can prevail in the shorter tie-break," he added 25 days before the first Grand Slam event of the season gets underway.The US Open introduced a classic seven-point tie-break when players are tied at 6-6 in the decider.The Australian Open mirrored Wimbledon's decision earlier this year that players would go into a final set tie-breaker once tied at 12-12 in the decider, making the French Open the only Grand Slam event that still adopts the two-game advantage system in the final set.
--IANS gau/bg