Kevin Anderson Overcomes Habit of Poor Australian Open Starts, Boulter Wins First 10-Point Tiebreaker
MELBOURNE, Australia — Fifth-seeded Kevin Anderson has overcome traditional poor first-round performances at Melbourne Park with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 win over Adrian Mannarino.
Anderson has lost in the first round here six times, including to Kyle Edmund last year. It was the South African's first win in Melbourne since 2015.
He warmed up for the Australian Open by winning his sixth ATP tour title at Pune, India.
Mannarino became upset when Anderson took a lengthy bathroom break after the third set, complaining to the umpire. The Frenchman's mood wasn't improved when he lost his service game to open the fourth set.
Mannarino recorded his best performance at Melbourne Park by advancing to the third round last year. He went into Monday's match having lost in the first round at Doha and at last week's Sydney International.
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Katie Boulter has the distinction of winning the first 10-point tiebreaker under the Australian Open's new system for determining level deciding sets.
Boulter beat Ekaterina Makarova 6-0, 4-6, 7-6 (6), including 10-6 in the tiebreaker in which the first player to reach 10 with an advantage of two points clinches the match.
In the men's singles draw, the first four sets will feature a seven-point tiebreaker at 6-6, with the final set going to a 10-point tiebreaker at 6-6.
In women's singles play and men's and women's doubles and mixed doubles, the deciding set of three sets will be played with a 10-point tiebreaker at 6-6.
Wimbledon announced in October it will have a standard first-to-seven-points tiebreaker when the deciding set reaches 12-12.
The U.S. Open was the first Grand Slam tournament to introduce final-set tiebreakers, with a first-to-seven-points game at 6-6.
The French Open is the only remaining Grand Sam still decided by a long deciding set by advantage.
