All England Club reduces Wimbledon men’s doubles to best-of-three format
New Delhi: The men’s doubles event at Wimbledon, like the other three Grand Slams, has been reduced to a best-of-three format. The All England Club announced the change of format from best of five sets to attract more players to enter the doubles competition.
The decision came in light of the events of the men’s doubles title game at Wimbledon last July between the Australian pair of Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell, and Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic of Croatia, which lasted 4 hours, 11 minutes. While it was a five-set thriller and the score went 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 4-6, 6-4, and 7-6 (10-2) on Centre Court, seeing the time it took to finish the game, the All England Club made the announcement on January 25.
The statement issued by the club also said that this will enable the referee’s office with certainty while scheduling matches during the event.
The moment ?? @MaxPurcell98 & @mattebden ?? claimed the title! ??
?: @Wimbledon | #Wimbledon
— ATP Tour (@atptour) July 9, 2022
The Wimbledon will begin on July 3 and will go on till July 16 in London this year. Meanwhile, the Australian Open is going on and the men’s doubles have entered its semi-finals stage. Matthew Ebden was playing the pair with Indian star Rohan Bopanna and the pair was knocked out in the first round.
On the other hand, India’s most successful tennis star Sania Mirza, who is playing her last Grand Slam before retirement has reached the finals of the mixed doubles event along with Bopanna.