How Does Scoring In Tennis Work?

A comprehensive guide on how tennis scoring works, including how points are scored and when games and sets are won.

Basics of Scoring

In tennis, a player scores a point when the opponent fails to return the ball within the court boundaries. The game of tennis is played with either one player (singles) or two players (doubles). Let’s take a more detailed look at how scoring works in tennis.

Love

Love is the least score you can receive in a tennis game. It occurs when the game starts at 0-0. In love, no points have been scored yet.

15

In tennis, scoring goes up to 40. This can be confusing to newer players, because 40 is actually two points higher than 30. Here’s a quick rundown of how tennis scoring works:

– 0 = Love
– 15 = Fifteen
– 30 = Thirty
– 40 = Forty

The way you score in tennis is by adding up the total number of points you’ve won. So, if you win three points in a row, you’ll have a score of 30. If your opponent then wins the next point, your score will go back down to 15. The first player to reach 40 wins the game.

30

In tennis, scoring goes from 0-30-40-game. In order to score a point, the player must have their turn at serving and win the rally by either forcing their opponent to make a mistake or hitting a winning shot that their opponent can’t reach. If the server wins the rally, they score a point and get to serve again. If the server loses the rally, they lose their serve and the other player gets to serve.

When the score reaches 30, this is called deuce. To win deuce and score a point, a player must win two consecutive rallies (i.e. they serve twice and win both rallies). If the player who is serving wins one rally and their opponent wins the next rally, it goes back to deuce.

Once a player has won two consecutive rallies, they score a point and go back to serving. If the player who is serving wins four consecutive points total (from 30-0, 30-15, 30-30, or deuce), they win the game.

40

In tennis, scoring is relatively simple. The game starts with both players at zero, or “love”. Players then take turns serving, and each time a player wins a point, they score a point. The first player to score four points wins the game. However, if both players score three points each, the game is “deuce” and play continues until one player scores two consecutive points and wins the game.

Deuce

In tennis, “deuce” is the name given to the score of 40–40 when neither player has yet won a point or game during that particular set. At deuce, each player has two serves left and the players must then win two consecutive points to win the game. If the player serving at deuce wins the next point, then that player wins the game. If the player receiving service at deuce wins the next point, the score is tied at “deuce again”.

Advantage

Advantage is a term used in tennis to refer to the situation when one player has a chance to win the point and their opponent does not. This can also be referred to as having an upper hand. Advantage is usually only used when referring to the score of a game, not when referring to the score of a set or match. When one player has advantage, their score is shown as “Ad” followed by their opponents’ score. For example, if the score is 40-30 then the player with advantage would be shown as “Ad-40”. If the player with advantage wins the next point then they win the game, however if their opponent wins the next point then they would receive “deuce” and both players would have an equal chance of winning the game.

Winning a Game

In tennis, the player who wins the most games in a set is the winner of that set. A player wins a game by winning four points. Points are awarded as follows:

-If the player who is serving wins the point, he or she scores one point. This is called a service point.
-If the player who is receiving wins the point, he or she scores one point. This is called a return point.
-If the server wins the point and the score is deuce (40-40), he or she scores one point and is said to have advantage in. If the receiver then wins the next point, the score goes back to deuce. If the server wins the next point, he or she wins that game.
-If at any time during a game, either player has won three points and his or her opponent has not yet scored a point, that player has scored a breakpoint and can win that game if he or she can win one more point from his or her opponent before his or her opponent scores two more points from him or her.

Winning a Set

In order to win a set in tennis, a player must be the first to win six games, and must be ahead by two games. If the score reaches six games all, then a player must win by a margin of two clear games. For example, if the score is 6-5, the player who is ahead must win the next game to win the set 7-5. If the player who is behind wins the next game, the score is tied at 6-6 and a tiebreaker is played.

Tiebreaker

The player who wins the most games in a set is the set winner. However, if the score reaches 6-6 (called “six-all”), a tiebreaker is played. The tiebreaker is usually played to 7 points, and the first player to win 7 points wins the tiebreaker, and hence the set. However, if the score in the tiebreaker reaches 6-6, then it is usually played to 9 points (sometimes 12 points).

Winning a Match

When playing a tennis match, the goal is to win best out of three or five sets. To win a set, you must be the first player to score six games and be up by at least two games. For example, if the score is 6-4, 6-5, or 7-6, that player would win the set.

If the score becomes 6-6 in games, then a tiebreaker is played. To win a tiebreaker, you must be the first player to score seven points and be up by at least two points. The tiebreaker is played to only seven points because after that the receiver always serves. So if the score in a tiebreaker became 7-7, 8-8, 9-9 etc., then whoever is ahead in points will serve for the next game (and thus have an opportunity to win the set).