match point

noun

Definition of match point

: a situation (as in tennis) in which one player or side will win the match by winning the next point also : the point itself

Examples of match point in a Sentence

He won with an ace on his second match point. He won with an ace on match point.

Recent Examples on the Web

Zverev held a match point against Nadal in Indian Wells in 2016, stretched him to five sets at the Australian Open a year later and took a set off the King of Clay Sunday. — Ravi Ubha, CNN, "Rafael Nadal: Who can stop the 'King of Clay' at the French Open?," 21 May 2018 An unusual feature of the Final Four is that the winner is based on game points and not match points, as is the case with nearly every other team event that this writer knows of. — Chris Chase, BostonGlobe.com, "Chess notes," 21 Apr. 2018 Olympic gold medalist Monica Puig saved a match point before recovering for a 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-4 win over former U.S. Open champion Sam Stosur. — John Pye, The Seattle Times, "Major letdown for US women: Venus, Stephens out in Melbourne," 15 Jan. 2018 After match point against Wozniacki, as Sergio did a tarantella in the stands, Camila stood beaming on the court. — Jon Wertheim, SI.com, "Camila Giorgi Has Talent to Stay on Tour, But Finding Finances a Struggle," 10 Jan. 2014 Federer had a match point at 5-4 in the third set, but Kevin Anderson—the 6-foot-8 ball smasher from South Africa—saved that break point and went on to win the set. — Tom Perrotta, WSJ, "Kevin Anderson Upsets Roger Federer at Wimbledon," 11 July 2018 Del Potro held four match points while serving for the victory at 5-4 in the fourth set, but had to wait until the last tiebreaker to advance in 4 hours, 24 minutes, making it the longest men’s singles match of the tournament. — Howard Fendrich, BostonGlobe.com, "Serena Williams storms back to reach Wimbledon semifinals," 10 July 2018 Isner saved two match points and hit 64 aces, the third-most at a Wimbledon match. — New York Times, "Garbiñe Muguruza and Marin Cilic Join the Wimbledon Exodus," 5 July 2018 Isner faced two match points against Bemelmans at 5-4 in the fifth set but held and then broke in the next game. — Mattias Karen, chicagotribune.com, "Guido Pella stuns No. 3 seed Marin Cilic at Wimbledon; Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal advance," 5 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'match point.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

16 Oct 2018

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The first known use of match point was in 1921

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More Definitions for match point

match point

noun

English Language Learners Definition of match point

: a situation in tennis in which one player or team can win the match by winning the next point

: the final point that must be won to win a match in tennis

See the full definition for match point in the English Language Learners Dictionary

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