We won’t be seeing anymore 11 hour matches at Wimbledon thanks to a new rule introduced today.
The All England Lawn Tennis Club announced that the historic tennis tournament would now feature a final set tie-breaker, starting in 2019.
AELTC announces introduction of final set tie-break for The Championships 2019: https://t.co/r0uPDEABn5#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/PHsgliAwTF
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) October 19, 2018
Instead of going until one player wins by two games, the final set of a Wimbledon match will now enter a tiebreaker when the score reaches 12-12.
"In reaching this decision, the AELTC Committee sought the feedback of both players and officials, analysed two decades of match data, and considered other factors including scheduling complexities and spectator experience,” explained Philip Brook, AELTC chairman.
“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.”
This past summer, Kevin Anderson defeated John Isner in a six hour and 35 minute semi-final, which was the third longest match in tennis history.
In the final set, Anderson won by a score of 26-24.
Although Isner was likely disappointed, he was the one who came out on top in the longest match in tennis history back in 2010.
Still considered one of the most famous Wimbledon matches ever, Isner defeated Nicolas Mahut in a marathon battle that lasted 11 hours and five minutes over three days.
Isner won the historic final set 70-68 and the two players broke a number of single match records because of the sheer longevity of their dual.
