The official rules of the United States Tennis Association and the International Tennis Federation dictate that players must win either the best of three sets or the best of five sets to win a match. Individual tournaments must announce whether the event's matches must be played to three or five sets. In some cases, different rules might apply to the fifth set of a match than to the first four sets.
Set Formats
USTA and ITF rules describe two different set formats that tournaments can use in matches. The two-set formats are called "tie-break sets" and "advantage sets." Individual tournaments can decide which set format to use, but they must announce the chosen format before the start of the event. Tournaments can choose to use the same set format for all sets in all matches, or they can choose to use a different set format for the final deciding set of a match. For example, tournaments might choose to use tie-break sets in the first four sets of best-of-five set matches and then use advantage sets in the fifth set.
Tie-Break Sets
If two players reach six games each in a tie-break set, they must complete a tie-break game to determine the winner of the set. To win a tie-break game, a player must earn seven points with a two-point lead over his opponent. If two players reach six points each, one player must reach eight points to win the game. If the players then reach seven points each, one player must reach nine points to win the game.
The player whose turn it is to serve in the next game will serve first in the tie-break game. She serves one point and her opponent then serves two points. The players then take turns serving two points at a time. Players change sides after each six points in a tie-break game.
Advantage Sets
In an advantage set, a player must win at least six games with a two-game margin of victory. No tie-break game can break a tie between the two players. If the players each reach six games, one player must reach eight games to win. If both players reach seven games, one player must reach nine games to win. Players must continue the set until one player gains a two-game advantage over his opponent. Advantage sets can go on indefinitely, and often last much longer than tie-break sets.
To make matches more exciting, some tournaments choose to use advantage sets in the fifth sets of matches or in the final round of the tournament. For example, Wimbledon, the Australian Open and the French Open use advantage sets in the fifth sets of men's singles matches. In the fifth set of the 2009 Wimbledon finals, Roger Federer beat Andy Roddick 16 games to 14.
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