Tie Break Rules for the Round Robin Format in Tennis

In a round robin format each player plays one match against every other player in a group. This player-friendly format is used in tennis tournaments to guarantee players more than one match. It is possible for two or more players to have the same win-loss record resulting in a tie. Tournaments have a few options available for breaking these ties. At the start of the tournament, the director will typically announce which method will be used.

  1. Head-To-Head

    • When two players are tied with the same number of matches won and lost, a head-to-head tie break method is used to determine the winner. This is simply looking at the results of the match when these two players played against each other. For example, if, at the end of play, players A and B have both won four matches and lost one and when they played each other B defeated A, then player B is the winner of the round robin.

    Sets Won Percentage

    • It is possible for more than two players to have an identical match win-loss record. In this case, an alternate method, calculating the percentage of sets won, can be used to determine the winner. To calculate this percentage, divide the number of sets won by the total number of sets played and multiply this result by 100. The player with the higher percentage wins the round robin.

    Games Won Percentage

    • On rare occasions, it is possible for players to have the same match win-loss record and the same sets won percentage. In this case, tournaments can break the tie by calculating the percentage of games won. Add up the number of games won and the total number of games played for each player involved in the tie. Divide the number of games won by the total number of games played and multiply this result by 100. The player with the higher percentage is the winner of the round robin.