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.