The traditional retraction of the deformed drop method (DDRM) to determine the interfacial tension is reformulated to relax the limit the small deformation assumption. The kernel of the new formalism is the calculation of the velocity gradient on the vertex of the ellipsoidal drop. Two models were used for such calculations: the Jackson and Tucker model [J Rheol 47:659-682] and the Yu and Bousmina model [J Rheol 47:1011-1039]. The method can be used either in the retraction of shear deformed drop, or in the retraction of elongated drops produced by the breakup of a long thread. Comparison with experimental results of the literature showed that conversely to the classical DDRM, good accuracy is obtained when the new modeling for the determination of interfacial tension is used both under small and large deformations.