With the U.S. Open underway in New York and scores appearing daily in the papers, it's interesting to note that many tennis players still don't know how to read tie-break results. Case in point:  Four long-time women players in Westchester County who got together for a doubles game this past Saturday.  They included an attorney, two social workers and a psychologist.  None of them could figure out the meaning of the little figure appearing in the parentheses after the 7-6 tiebreak result for one of the Flushing Meadows matches.  Did the 7-6 (2) score, as reported, mean that the winner had won by two points, so that the final result was actually 7-5?  Seeking assistance, they asked another player on the court next to them.  She did not know, either.  Almost 50 years since the tie-break was introduced, the tennis powers-that-be still have some explaining to do.  
                                                                        -- Jeff Bogart