WIMBLEDON, England — “Nothing like this will ever happen again, ever,” John Isner said while winning a fifth set, 70-68, over Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon in 2010.
On Friday, Wimbledon organizers made that official by announcing they would adopt final-set tiebreakers for all matches in 2019.
While the United States Open has had a final-set tiebreaker at 6-6 for decades, Wimbledon will, in a nod to tradition, put the finish line later: at 12-12.
Philip Brook, chairman of the All England Club, which organizes Wimbledon, said in a statement that the decision had been made after consulting with players and officials and analyzing “two decades of match data.