Should all the Majors go to 5th Set Tiebreak

M

McEnroeisanartist

Hall of Fame
Should all the Majors go to a 5th Set Tiebreak rather than having to win by 2 games.

It seems there have been countless matches that people remember or consider classic that went beyond 6 games all.

Whereas, how many matches are considered great that ended in a 5th set tiebreaker? The few that come to mind:

Rosewall-Laver - 1972 WTC Final
McEnroe-Connors - 1980 U.S. Open semifinal - such an anticlimatic finish
Becker-Lendl - 1988 Masters Final
Connors-Krickstein - 1991 U.S. Open 4th Round - somehow seemed inevitable that Connors would win
Nadal-Federer - 2006 Rome Final - most people didn't watch the match live
Agassi-Blake - 2006 U.S. Open quarterfinal

Any other classics that I am missing?
 
veroniquem

veroniquem

Bionic Poster
For suspense, excitement, nothing beats no TB in the 5th. I wish the USO would cancel the TB in the 5th. To me, that was a very bad decision. And for the sake of fairness too. I hate seeing a several hour battle getting settled by a TB, complete anti-climax and diminishes the value of the long effort the players had to produce to get that far.
 
Mustard

Mustard

Bionic Poster
veroniquem said:
For suspense, excitement, nothing beats no TB in the 5th. I wish the USO would cancel the TB in the 5th. To me, that was a very bad decision. And for the sake of fairness too. I hate seeing a few hours battle getting settled by a TB, complete anti-climax and diminishes the value of the long effort the players had to produce to get that far.
Click to expand...

The suspense factor is precisely why I like fifth set tiebreaks at the US Open. It suits the character of the tournament. At the other majors, I would hate fifth set tiebreaks.
 
veroniquem

veroniquem

Bionic Poster
Mustard said:
The suspense factor is precisely why I like fifth set tiebreaks at the US Open. It suits the character of the tournament. At the other majors, I would hate fifth set tiebreaks.
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Why does it suit the character of the tournament? I don't understand the "character" difference between AO and USO.
 
Ico

Ico

Hall of Fame
How many matches have actually used the fifth set tiebreaker in recent-ish years? I know Wimbledon produces a lot of serve-fest fifth sets that drag on but I can't remember being let down by a tiebreaker at the end of an epic in New York.
 
tennisaddict

tennisaddict

Bionic Poster
They should have 5th set tiebreaker for all matches except finals.

It is senseless when you have a 7 match tournament , where potentially Fed can meet Delpo or Novak against Isner in the round of 16 and for the winner it is impossible to win the next match, where if they had a 5th set tiebreak anyone of Fed/Delpo/Novak can go on to win the major.

This is one of the few reasons why USO ranks highly for some.
 
veroniquem

veroniquem

Bionic Poster
And this is the reason why the USO ranks lowly for me. That + playing the semis on Saturday which is a shame and a scandal and greatly affects the final result.
 
Mustard

Mustard

Bionic Poster
veroniquem said:
Why does it suit the character of the tournament? I don't understand the "character" difference between AO and USO.
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The US Open has that gladitorial feel. The other majors don't have that same feel. The Australian Open is easy going, Wimbledon is theatrical, and the French Open is a grindfest.
 
veroniquem

veroniquem

Bionic Poster
Well, I'm sure gladiators would have chosen the no TB option :) (blood and tears!) but thanks for the explanation.
 
M

Magnetite

Professional
Keep it at the US Open, but leave it out of RG and Wimbledon. The AO can do whatever they want.

It's nice having variety. It's better that they don't homogenise everything.
 
Feña14

Feña14

G.O.A.T.
veroniquem said:
And this is the reason why the USO ranks lowly for me. That + playing the semis on Saturday which is a shame and a scandal and greatly affects the final result.
Click to expand...

I'm with you there, not really a big fan of the US Open in general, for many reasons it just feels like another North American hard court tournament, of which there are many. You see the blue courts and US Open series backdrops throughout the summer, you get to New York and it's the same. The tie-break in a final set is standard for every other tournament, for me personally I don't like to see it in a major.

I'll admit it's come in handy with all the poor weather we've had at the tournament over the last however many years. 5, 5 set matches over the course of 7 days is tough as it is! Some of those finishing 17-15 in the 5th must be hell for organisers and the players :)
 
A

Al Czervik

Hall of Fame
I have come around on this through the years. I always hated the US Open for that fifth set tiebreaker. Now, I think it's right, especially the way the game has become a war of attrition. That fifth set in Australia this year would have had no business going to something like 12-10. It was already a marathon. I think the tiebreak puts more incentive on the players to fight for the break of serve. I do think Olympics had it right to play out the third since the tournament had such great importance and they simply didn't have time for five set matches.
 
veroniquem

veroniquem

Bionic Poster
Magnetite said:
Keep it at the US Open, but leave it out of RG and Wimbledon. The AO can do whatever they want.

It's nice having variety. It's better that they don't homogenise everything.
Click to expand...
Actually, I'd like for the slams to have the exact same rules, they're worth the same amount of points, they have the same # of matches with same number of sets, same # of players. To me they should also adopt the same policy about TBs if possible. It should be the majority rule, so the USO should align on the other 3.
 
Mustard

Mustard

Bionic Poster
veroniquem said:
Actually, I'd like for the slams to have the exact same rules, they're worth the same amount of points, they have the same # of matches with same number of sets, same # of players. To me they should also adopt the same policy about TBs if possible. It should be the majority rule, so the USO should align on the other 3.
Click to expand...

They will never come to an agreement, anyway. The US Open has fifth set tiebreaks so that the length of a match can be predicted to a certain extent, thinking of TV schedules. The French Open and Wimbledon value tradition highly, so will stick with no tiebreaks in the fifth set.

I like the rules as they are. As I said before, I'd hate fifth set tiebreaks at the Australian Open, French Open or Wimbledon. There was fuss from McEnroe in 2010 after the Isner vs. Mahut epic.
 
MichaelNadal

MichaelNadal

Bionic Poster
Not at all, I like the fact that only the USO does. Nothing about tennis scoring/history should be changed at this point.
 
N

NadalDramaQueen

Guest
Sentinel said:
Agree with this.

Or at least go in for a tie-break after 8-8 or 10-10.
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Yep, I feel like any player who wins a match with an epic scoreline in the semis of a major is on course for a drubbing in the final. I would think the two players involved would also prefer the winner of the match to at least have a fair shot.

Let them have it out in the final all the way to 70-68, however.
 
soleil

soleil

Rookie
NadalDramaQueen said:
Yep, I feel like any player who wins a match with an epic scoreline in the semis of a major is on course for a drubbing in the final. I would think the two players involved would also prefer the winner of the match to at least have a fair shot.

Let them have it out in the final all the way to 70-68, however.
Click to expand...

well it is the final match so no other matches the next day after a 70-68 final set
 
Zarfot Z

Zarfot Z

Professional
No.

10nos.

Players should have to work for their Grand Slams. A tiebreaker might be more exciting in the short run, but definitely less taxing.
 
ubermeyer

ubermeyer

Hall of Fame
Yes, unless they are a final.

The reason is that if you get a match like Isner-Mahut (or even a fifth set 1/3 as long) you're almost guaranteed to lose the next one just because of exhaustion, which is not fair.
 
M

Magnetite

Professional
veroniquem said:
Actually, I'd like for the slams to have the exact same rules, they're worth the same amount of points, they have the same # of matches with same number of sets, same # of players. To me they should also adopt the same policy about TBs if possible. It should be the majority rule, so the USO should align on the other 3.
Click to expand...

That just seems boring to me. By your logic they should all change to the same surface too :/
 
S

Seany

Banned
JMac is absolutely adamant that all majors should be a 5th set TB, and on this occasion I absolutely agree with him.

TB'ers provide far more drama than a long dragged out serve fest, by that stage the players are almost so tired that every extra game is unfair on them and ruining their tournament prospects. People say a TB'er is an unfair way to end it, but what's fair about letting the players run each other to the ground to the point where they are so tired they don't run for balls?

I would make all rounds a 5th set tie-break with the exceptional of a final, I don't think it's right that the title is decided on a tie-break.
 
T

TennisBatman

Semi-Pro
Wimbledon should follow the lead of the US Open and adopt the 5th set tiebreak.

We've seen epic matches in the past, but now realize that they can hurt the idea of fair competition. Example...after Isner was exhausted from his 3-day match, how many people actually picked him to win the next match, good a player as he was?

For Roland Garros and Australian Open, I can understand not using the 5th set tiebreak, in the spirit of "attrition tennis" that characterizes those tournaments.

This way, we would have a 50-50 split between slams that do and don't use the rule.
 
J

joeri888

G.O.A.T.
Why is everyone always looking for a single best format? A single best ball, a single best surface, a single best courtspeed. Keep it heterogenous, I like that the USO stands out, but I also like the deuce-fifth set
 
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