Tennis tiebreak rules.

A tiebreak in tennis is played to decide a set when both players have won 6 games each (6-6). Without the tiebreak, sets would have to be decided by a 2-game advantage indefinitely, which is what produced the famous 70-68 fifth set between Isner and Mahut at Wimbledon 2010 (11 hours, 5 minutes, over three days).

The 7-point set tiebreak was introduced in 1970 by Jimmy Van Alen and adopted by the US Open in 1971. By 1975, every Grand Slam was using it — except in the deciding set, where most majors held on to "advantage sets" until very recently.

• — First to 7 points, must win by 2.
• — Server: the player whose turn it is to serve at 6-6 serves the first point of the tiebreak.
• — After point 1, the other player serves the next two points.
• — After that, serves alternate every two points until the tiebreak ends.
• — Side change: ends are changed every 6 points (so after points 6, 12, 18...).
• — When the tiebreak ends, the player who did not serve the first point of the tiebreak serves the first game of the next set.

A 10-point tiebreak (sometimes called a "super tiebreak" or "Coman tiebreak") replaces the entire deciding set in some formats. It is first to 10, win by 2, with the same alternating serve and side-change pattern as the 7-point version. It is widely used in:

• — ATP and WTA doubles: most professional doubles is best-of-3 with a 10-point match tiebreak in lieu of a third set.
• — College tennis: NCAA doubles uses an 8-point or 10-point format.
• — Mixed doubles at all four Grand Slams: a 10-point tiebreak replaces a third set.
• — Recreational and league play: enormously popular as a "we don't have time for a third set" alternative.

For decades, every Grand Slam had a different deciding-set rule — Wimbledon, the French Open and the Australian Open all played advantage sets, the US Open used a 7-point tiebreak, and Wimbledon eventually capitulated to a 12-12 tiebreak in 2019 after the Isner-Mahut nonsense. From 2022, all four Grand Slams agreed to a uniform rule:

At 6-6 in the deciding set, all four majors now play a 10-point tiebreak (first to 10, win by 2). This replaced the patchwork of 7-point, 12-12, and advantage rules and is the same across the ATP and WTA tours as well.

No-ad scoring is sometimes confused with tiebreaks. They are different. No-ad means that at deuce (40-40), the next point wins the game outright — there is no advantage / second deuce. The receiver chooses which side to receive on. No-ad is used by the ATP doubles tour, by college tennis, by World TeamTennis, and by most recreational leagues that need matches to finish on the clock. It applies to individual games, not sets.