Tie Break Tens

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Tie Break Tens is a tennis format in which only tie-break matches are played. There are no games or sets, only tie-break matches and the winner is the first player to reach 10 points and lead by a margin of two. Most other traditional rules of tennis are observed. The inaugural Tie Break Tens event took place at the Royal Albert Hall on 5th December, 2015 and was won by Kyle Edmund. It's exciting and innovative nature has seen it compared to other alternative forms of traditional sports, such as T20 Cricket and Rugby Sevens.

Tie Break Tens - Match Rules

Tie Break Tens is played using traditional tie-break rules, except that player must reach ten points rather than seven. A coin toss determines who serves first, and from which end of the court they play. The player who wins the toss, serves first. The other player then serves twice, and with the rest of the match continuing with the players alternating serves every two points. Players change ends after every six points. Players are allowed an unlimited number of line-call challenges using review technology during each match, until an incorrect challenge is made. After this, no more challenges are allowed until the next match.

Tie Break Tens - Tournament Format

Tie Break Tens tournaments consist of six players divided into two groups of three. For the first stage of the tournament, a round-robin match format is played in each group, with the top two players in each group progressing to the semi-finals.

The winner of each group is determined by the greatest number of wins. However, if the players are tied for wins, the players who won their matches by the biggest point differential would progress. For example, a score of 10-6 would rank higher than a score of 13-11. If the point differential is the same, then match-time will be reviewed, and the players who won matches in the shortest amount of time will progress.

In the semi-finals, the winner of one group plays the runner-up in the other group, and vice versa. In the final, the semifinal winners play against each other to determine 1st and 2nd position in Tie Break Tens. The two semi-final losers face each other to determine 3rd and 4th positions.

History

The inaugural Tie Break Tens event took place on the 5th December, 2015 at the Royal Albert Hall. The event was staged in partnership with Champions Tennis and promoted by IMG with a winner-take-all prize of $250,000. Andy Murray, John McEnroe, Tim Henman, David Ferrer, Kyle Edmund and Champions Tennis qualifier Xavier Malisse participated in the event,

Two qualifying matches were held before Tie Break Tens (during Champions Tennis) to decide the Champions Tennis qualifier. The qualifying matches were held during the Friday and Saturday sessions of Champions Tennis. Malisse, Younes El Aynaoui, Fernando Gonzalez and James Blake competed against each other, with Malisse defeating  El Aynaoui in the deciding match.

In Group 1 of the first Tie Break Tens, McEnroe thrilled an excited crowd inside the Royal Albert Hall by rolling back the years and volleying exquisitely. He stayed neck and neck with Henman before eventually being edged out, and then led Malisse 7-1 with some of his best tennis in years. Suddenly, the McEnroe juggernaut came juddering to a stop as he lost nine points in a row. Consequently, Malisse and Henman progressed to the semi-finals.

They were joined in the final four by Murray and Edmund. The British pair both overcame David Ferrer to come through Group 2.

The semi-finals turned out to be one-sided affairs; Murray clinically beat Henman 10-1 before Edmund saw off the spirited challenge of Malisse.

In the final, Edmund defied the odds and managed to avenge his Group stage loss to Murray. Edmund used his sledgehammer forehand to devastating effect and not even Murray’s renowned defensive skills could prevent Edmund from dominating the baseline exchanges and coming through 10-7. The final lasted 12 minutes and Edmund took away the $250,000 prize, more than doubling his earnings for 2015.

Tie Break Tens Results

• Match 1: Tim Henman 10-7 John McEnroe
• Match 2: Kyle Edmund 7-10 Andy Murray
• Match 3: Tim Henman 5-10 Xavier Malisse
• Match 4: David Ferrer 4-10 Andy Murray
• Match 5: John McEnroe 7-10 Xavier Malisse
• Match 6: Kyle Edmund 10-3 David Ferrer
• Semi-Final 1: Tim Henman 1-10 Andy Murray
• Semi- Final 2: Kyle Edmund 10-4 Xavier Malisse
• Final: Andy Murray 7-10 Kyle Edmund

Player Reaction

Following the event, a number of players praised the event and were impressed with the quick-fire format.

Kyle Edmund: 'I thought it was very exciting. I didn't know what to expect but I think the crowd enjoyed it. I certainly enjoyed it. With tennis it's always so serious so it was nice to actually have some fun out there and see that emotion of players you don't normally see. It's like the 20-20 version of cricket, it's quick, it's sharp, it gets the crowd involved.'

Andy Murray: ‘I thought it was good, it was quick. It was nice to be on the court with Tim and John. John is a legend of the game and the format was good.'

Furthermore Matthew Pryke, the tournament director, was delighted with the success of Tie Break Tens and hinted that there are plans to hold further events in the future. “We are delighted with how our inaugural Tie Break Tens went as part of Champions Tennis at the Royal Albert Hall", he said. "Everyone seemed to have a great time, whether playing, spectating, or watching on Sky Sports, and that’s the whole point. Kyle was a very worthy winner, but all of the players competed hard and made the evening a huge success. We believe Tie Break Tens can complement the current Tour and add value for the tennis fan with its quick-fire, tie-break format, and we intend to stage further events around the world in 2016 and beyond.”

TV Coverage

The inaugural Tie Break Tens Tournament was broadcast live on SkySports 3. Marcus Buckland, Annabel Croft, Simon Reed and Chris Wilkinson were the hosts for the evening. In addition to SkySports 3 Coverage, 14 other TV Channels covered the event around the world, including Dubai Sports, SuperSport and Canal +. Furthermore, there was additional coverage from CNN Open Court, presented by Pat Cash and Soccer AM.

Sponsors

The inaugural Tie Break Tens event was sponsored by Betway, a leading provider of first-class entertainment across sports betting, casino, bingo and poker. Chopard, a luxury watch and jewellery designer, provided a watch, from its Mille Miglia GTS Collection, for the Tie Break Tens runner-up (Andy Murray).