Best-of-five is a thing of the past when it comes to Olympic Tennis. The ITF has announced that the men’s singles Gold Medal match will feature a best-of-three format at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. The final set will be a tiebreak set.
Previously all men's singles matches were best-of-three sets until the Gold Medal match, which was best-of-five.
Additionally, the ITF announced that men’s and women’s doubles matches at the 2020 games will feature a 10-point match tiebreak for all matches that are tied at one set apiece. That format is already in used for the mixed doubles event.
Here is the ITF’s statement, as published on its homepage:
“The ITF has announced changes to match formats for the Olympic Tennis Event, with the men's singles gold medal match now to be played as best-of-three tiebreak sets rather than best-of-five sets.
The change to the men's singles final aligns with the other matches in the men's and women's singles events, all of which are played as best-of-three tiebreak sets.
A further change has been announced for doubles events, with men's and women's doubles matches now to feature a match tiebreak to 10 points when the score is tied at one-set all. This format is already in use in the mixed doubles event.
These amendments reduce concerns of overplay for players who reach the latter stages of all three events - singles, doubles and mixed doubles. The changes will come into effect for the 2020 Olympic Tennis Event in Tokyo.”