There's no sport quite like tennis. In our explainer series, we de-code everything you need to know about scoring, draws, seedings, tournaments and all the other intricacies of this great game. You'll be a tennis expert come Australian Open 2025!
A red flag bearing the large white letters “S” and “D” – short for “sudden death” – was the first not-too-subtle sign that spectators were about to witness a bold change in the Grand Slam landscape.
That came as players at the 1970 US Open were due to contest the first tiebreaks to decide sets, a move designed to revolutionise the scoring system after tennis had turned fully professional.
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Tennis is a sport notable for its unique scoring system, and the match tiebreak – a variation on the innovative tiebreak – was subsequently designed to further help control match lengths and scheduling.
It made its debut to far less on-court flag-fare during the mixed doubles event at Australian Open 2001.
Remember Sam Stosur’s match-point saving upset of world No.1 Serena Williams, 8-6 in the third set, at Roland Garros in 2010? Or Andy Roddick’s late-night Rod Laver Arena 21-19 fifth-set escape against Younes El Aynaoui in 2003?
These would have been decided under different circumstances had the four majors adopted the 10-point deciding-set tiebreak – or match tiebreak – sooner.
How are matches decided at a Grand Slam?
A men’s singles match at the Australian Open – and all majors – is played in a best-of-five set format – the victor is the first player to win three sets.
Women’s singles and doubles, men’s doubles, qualifying, junior singles, and quad and wheelchair singles events use a best-of-three set format – the first to win two sets.
In mixed doubles, junior doubles, and quad and wheelchair doubles, a 10-point tie-break is played in lieu of a third set, so if teams split the opening two sets it all comes down to the match tiebreak.
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Beginning at Australian Open 2019, the tournament became the first major at which all final sets were decided after six-games-all with a 10-point tiebreak.
That year, Katie Boulter became the first singles player to win a main-draw match tiebreak at Melbourne Park against Ekaterina Makarova, but her on-court celebrations were a tad premature.
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Boulter thought she had won in a regular tiebreak, 7-4, only to have to recompose herself and cross the line 10-6.
All Grand Slams adopted a uniform scoring system in time for Roland Garros in 2022, which meant no more advantage sets – that was when a player had to win by two games if the final-set score reached six-all – to decide matches at major tournaments.
What is a point, game and a set?
Let’s break it down to the basics.
A ‘game’ is considered the building block of a set and begins with scores at zero.
Zero in tennis is known as ‘love’, thought to originate from ‘l’oeuf’ – French for ‘the egg’, which resembles the shape of a zero.
A player must win at least four points – which progress in increments from love to 15, 30 and 40 – to win a game.
Double the pressure on that match tiebreak 😮💨 #epicmoments pic.twitter.com/wc1PzpBw97
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) December 17, 2024
If points are tied at 40-40, that’s known as ‘deuce’ and from here players need a margin of two points to win the game. The point scored after deuce is known as ‘advantage’ and if the player with the advantage wins the next point, they clinch that game. If the player with the advantage loses the point, scores revert to deuce and the game continues.
A ‘set’ ends when a player reaches six games, leading by a margin of at least two games. If game scores reach 5-5, the player needs to win 7-5.
How does a tiebreak decide a set?
If games in any set draw level at 6-6, it’s tiebreak time!
This means the first player or team to reach seven points with a two-point advantage wins the seven-point tiebreak, and with it, the set.
Well, that’s for any set except a deciding set; for example, the fifth set of a men’s singles match, or third set of a women’s. That’s where a match tiebreak – first to 10 points with at least a two-point advantage – is used instead.
To negate any advantage gained from wind or sun, for example, at one end of the court, players change ends during tiebreaks after every six points.
What is the longest tiebreak played?
While not considered official as no chair umpire was present, then-world No.636 Benjamin Balleret overcame unranked fellow Monegasque Guillaume Couillard in a 70-point first-set tiebreak at a Futures event in Florida in 2013.
He went on to win 7-6(36-34), 6-1.
Such a deep dive is not required to remember the longest match tiebreak in history.
That unfolded in a twilight classic at Rod Laver Arena at AO 2024 when world No.57 Anna Blinkova saved six match points, before converted her 10th, to oust Elena Rybakina 6-4 4-6 7-6[22-20].
The match tiebreak alone lasted more than 30 minutes.
“One of my motivations was to stay here,” Blinkova said. “Before going on court, I was telling myself that I will fight to stay here longer at the Australian Open in the best atmosphere in the world.”