what is a tie break in tennis

A tiebreak in tennis is a special game that is played to decide the winner of a set when two players are tied at 6 games to 6. The tiebreak was invented in 1954 by Jimmy van Allen to avoid marathon-matches in every tournament. The rules of a tiebreak are simple: the first player to score seven points wins the tiebreak and the set. If players tie at 6-points-to-6, the first one with a 2-point margin wins. In doubles, the player on the opposing team due to serve will serve the first two points. Players or teams switch ends of the court every six points. Tiebreaks that decide matches at Grand Slams follow the same format as traditional tiebreaks but run up to 10 points with the ‘win by two’ rule still in place. This is designed to help both players and fans, by protecting players from long, grueling encounters during a Grand Slam fortnight and providing more concentrated moments of excitement for fans.