Men's singles final now best-of-three; all doubles events to be decided by champions' tie-break if first, second sets are split
Wednesday 3 April 2019 17:00, UK
The International Tennis Federation has announced a series of format changes to the tennis event at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.
The men's singles gold medal match will now be played as the best-of-three tie-break sets rather than best-of-five sets, which aligns with the other matches in the men's and women's singles events, all of which are played as best-of-three tie-break sets.
Since 1996, the format for the men's singles event had been best-of-three sets in all rounds except the final, but all matches in Tokyo will be played over the shorter format.
Britain's Andy Murray is the reigning back-to-back men's singles Olympic champion, having won the title at London 2012 against Roger Federer and then recapturing the gold medal four years later in Rio when he overcame Juan Martin del Potro in an epic encounter.
Also men's and women's doubles matches will now feature a match tie-break to 10 points when the score is tied at one-set all.
The changes have been made to reduce concerns of overplay.
We have the tennis season covered from all angles via our website skysports.com/tennis. On the move? Head to our app for mobile devices and iPad, or follow our Twitter account @SkySportsTennis to join in the conversation.
