Wimbledon first introduced tie-breaks in 1971.
The tournament adopted a seven-point tie-break when a set reached 8–8 in games, except when winning the set would also win the match. This rule was designed to prevent marathon sets from stretching matches across many hours or days.
The decision followed growing concern about exceptionally long contests, especially the famous 1969 Wimbledon match between Pancho Gonzales and Charlie Pasarell. That five-set battle lasted 5 hours 12 minutes over two days, with Gonzales winning the final set 11–9.
The 1971 rule was not the modern Wimbledon system. In 1979, Wimbledon moved the tie-break point to 6–6 in games for every set except the final set. Final-set tie-breaks were introduced much later: a 12–12 tie-break began in 2019, before the Grand Slam tournaments standardized a 10-point final-set tie-break in 2022.