Sunday, May 18, 2008

Play a third set

After a few weeks of USTA League Tennis (a.k.a. Team Tennis), there is a small, yet adamant group forming that wants to play the third set out instead of playing a 10-point match tiebreaker. Okay, these are probably the same people that lose in 10-point match tiebreakers, but still. We all know how many Team Tennis matches there are to be played and how much court time they already consume. Playing the third set out would definitely add to the burden. But to what extent? Not every match splits sets, so it would not happen all the time. But, when it does, the players could really see who was the best on that day, instead of just who made the last mistake. Most tournaments play a third set, at least in the main draw. Most tournaments stay relatively on schedule, though sometimes they can get out of hand. Some players say that tiebreakers unduly favor the "big servers." Some say that tiebreakers are unfair to players that train and work on their fitness, which would be a factor in a third set. It seems that the only good thing about playing a match tiebreaker instead of a third set is that it saves time. Is that a good enough reason? What do you think? If you had it your way, would you want to play a match tiebreaker or would you play the third set out?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

When you get into the summer months the issue is the HEAT. It would be insane to play three full sets in the Memphis heat.

Marie B. said...

That is a good point! The post was written in May while the weather was still mild. I think I still prefer the 3 sets, though, no matter what the weather! :-)