Tennis used to have four different sets of tiebreak rules at the four Grand Slams. For decades, a fifth set at Wimbledon could last forever; a fifth set at the US Open ended in a normal seven-point tiebreak; a fifth set at the Australian Open and Roland Garros had its own quirks. As of 2022, all four slams adopted the same rule for the deciding set: a 10-point tiebreak at 6-6. Here is the full picture.
The standard set tiebreak
In sets 1 through 4 of a Grand Slam men's match (and sets 1 and 2 of a women's match), the tiebreak rule is the same as it has been since 1970: when the set reaches 6-6 in games, the players play a tiebreak. The first player to reach seven points, while leading by at least two, wins the tiebreak and the set. If the tiebreak gets to 6-6 in points, it continues until one player is ahead by two — there is no upper limit. Tiebreaks of 13-11, 15-13, even 20-18 happen occasionally and are part of the drama.
Service rotation in the tiebreak goes: the player whose turn it is to serve plays one point, then the other player serves two, then the first player serves two, and so on. Sides change every six points. This is the same at every event.
The fifth set: a long history of disagreement
For most of the open era, the four Grand Slams could not agree on what to do when a deciding set reached 6-6. Each had its own rule.
- US Open: always played a standard 7-point tiebreak in every set, including the fifth. The simplest rule.
- Wimbledon: no tiebreak in the fifth — players just kept going. This produced legendary marathons like Isner–Mahut in 2010, which ran 70-68 in the fifth set over three days.
- Australian Open: no tiebreak in the fifth until 2019.
- Roland Garros: no tiebreak in the fifth until 2022.
The 10-point tiebreak: now standardized
In 2022, the Grand Slam Board announced that all four slams would adopt the same deciding-set rule: at 6-6 in games, the players play a 10-point tiebreak. The first to 10, winning by at least two, takes the set and the match. This format had already been used at the Australian Open since 2019 (after the gradual rollout there) and had become the deciding format in doubles for over a decade. With the 2022 decision, every Grand Slam now uses it.
The history of how each slam got there is messy. Wimbledon introduced a 12-12 tiebreak in 2019 (still a 7-point tiebreak, but only after 12-12 in games) as a partial compromise. Roland Garros held out the longest before switching directly to the 10-pointer in 2022. The Australian Open had been running a 10-pointer since 2019. The US Open was the first slam to use any deciding-set tiebreak — they had a 7-pointer at 6-6 from 1970 — and they switched to the 10-pointer in 2022 to match the others.
Why it changed
The push for standardization came from a few directions. Players wanted predictability: training and pacing for a match that might or might not have a deciding tiebreak made preparation harder. Broadcasters wanted predictability for scheduling — matches that could theoretically run six or seven hours were unsellable in modern TV windows. Medical staff worried about long deciding sets producing more cramping injuries.
The 10-point format was chosen as a compromise. A 7-point tiebreak ends very quickly — usually within ten minutes. A 10-point tiebreak gives the match a slightly longer decisive phase, which feels more proportional to the importance of the moment, while still capping match length. In practice, a 10-point tiebreak takes about 15 to 25 minutes.
What this means for fans
The era of all-time-marathon matches like Isner–Mahut is over. The longest possible match length at a slam is now capped — a five-set men's match with a 10-point fifth-set tiebreak will run somewhere around four-and-a-half to five-and-a-half hours at the absolute upper end. That is still a long sporting event, but it is no longer open-ended. The trade-off is predictability for the players, the broadcasters, and the medical staff — for the price of a few historic moments that probably will not happen again.