Rafael Nadal gives verdict on major shake-up that will affect French Open and Wimbledon chances
ALL four Grand Slams will be adopting the same final set format in a trial beginning at the French Open.
Rafael Nadal has reacted to a new rule being trialled across the four Grand Slams that will see the final set format changed for consistency. The Grand Slam board announced on Wednesday that a first-to-ten-point tiebreak played at 6-6 would be used at the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open starting from the upcoming edition of Roland Garros, Nadal’s most successful tournament where he is a 13-time champion.
A new final-set format will be trialled at the four Majors for a full Grand Slam year to ensure consistency across the board. Previously, the Australian Open was the only tournament adopting a first-to-ten-point tiebreak played at 6-6 in the final set. The French Open saw no final set tiebreak with a match decided by a two game advantage while Wimbledon had a standard first-to-seven point tiebreak at 12-12 in the final set and the US Open had the same tiebreak played at 6-6 in the final set.
Rafael Nadal gives verdict on major shake-up that will affect French Open and Wimbledon chances
The Australian Open and Wimbledon had only adopted their formats in 2019, with many believing a 26-24 final set between John Isner and Kevin Anderson in the 2018 Wimbledon semi-final sparked the move, as well as the longest match in history, a three day encounter that saw Isner beat Nicolas Mahut 70-68 in the final set of their Wimbledon opener in 2010. And the format changes have proved significant before, with Wimbledon’s tiebreak at 12-12 first played in the 2019 men’s singles final between Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, won by the Serb.
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With the trial set to begin at the very next Grand Slam, the French Open, where Nadal is a 13-time champion and the favourite to go on to extend his record of Grand Slam men’s singles titles to 22, the Spaniard was asked for his thoughts on the new final-set format that could impact his matches at his favourite tournament.
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