How Is A Tennis Match Scored?

How Is A Tennis Match Scored? The game of tennis is scored in a unique way. The basic principle is that the winner of a game scores a point, and the loser loses a point.

Introduction

Tennis is a racket sport that can be played individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over or around a net and into the opponent’s court. The object of the game is to maneuver the ball in such a way that the opponent is not able to play a valid return. The player who is unable to return the ball will not gain a point, while the opposite player will.

Basics of Scoring

In tennis, a player scores a point when the opponent is not able to return the ball within the court boundaries. If the player hits the ball into the net, that is also a point for the opponent. A game is won when a player scores four points and is two points ahead of the opponent.

Love

Love – zero – is the starting point for every tennis match. It sounds a lot nicer than zero and in fact, from love all the way up to four games all, nothing has changed except the number of points you have.

From four games all, or 4-4 in old money, things start to get a little more complicated. The first person to win four points wins a game but if both players reach four points then whoever is leading by two points wins that game. That’s why it’s called deuce – because the next point will decide (decide = deuce) who will win the game.

The player who wins the next point after deuce then has what is called ‘advantage’. If they then go on to win the next point they have won that game. If they don’t win the next point then it goes back to deuce. When it’s at deuce, both players only need one more point to win that game; when it’s at advantage, whoever has got it only needs one more point to win too.

Fifteen

Love: zero points. You’ve just started playing tennis, so you shouldn’t have any points.

15: One point. This is the first point you can score in a tennis game. It occurs when your opponents fails to return your ball within the boundaries of the court, or fails to hit the ball over the net.

30: Two points. You score a second point when your opponents fails to return your ball a second time, or fails to hit the ball over the net.

40: Three points. You score a third point when your opponents fails to return your ball a third time, or fails to hit the ball over the net. If both you and your opponent have scored three points each (i.e., it’s “40-all”), this is called “deuce.”

Advantage: One additional point (for a total of four). You win an advantage point when your opponent hits the ball out of bounds, hits the ball into the net, or otherwise fails to return your ball once you’ve scored three points (“40”) in a row. If you have an advantage and your opponent subsequently scores a point (“40-all”), this is no longer an advantage; it reverts back to “deuce.”

Game: Four points (for a total of six). You win a game when you’ve scored four points in a row (i.e., “advantage” plus one additional point). In order to win a set (see below), you must win at least six games with a two-game margin over your opponent; for example, if you win 6-4, 7-5, 8-6, 9-7, 10-8, 11-9 — Congrats! You’ve just won a set!

Thirty

The first point in a game is called “thirty” – pronounced “three-oh.” To score thirty, a player wins two consecutive points. The first point is called “fifteen,” pronounced “one-five.” If the server wins the next point, he/she scores two consecutive points and wins the game. If the receiver wins the next point, he/she scores one point and it’s now “thirty-all.”

Forty

In tennis, “forty” means “4 points”. You can get to forty by winning two games in a row, or by winning a tiebreaker. Once one player has won six games and is ahead by at least two games (e.g., 6-4, 7-5), that player wins the set. If the score gets to 6-5 (or 5-6), a player must win the next game to win the set. If the players are tied at 6 games each, they play a tiebreaker to decide who wins the set.

Deuce

Under regular scoring, when the game score reaches Deuce, the player who scores the next point wins the game. If that player serves the next game, they are said to have the “advantage”. If they do not win that game, then their opponent receives the advantage. If both players win a point while one of them is in the advantage, this is known as “advantage lost”, and their score reverts back to deuce. When in the deuce position, either player can choose to serve.

Advantage

In tennis, advantage (or ad) is the status given to a player during a point when that player wins the next point, thus regaining parity in the score. If the receiving player wins the next point, then they are said to have won “the advantage”. If the serving player wins the next point, then they regain control of service and are said to have won “the advantage”. Advantage is also called “benefit” in some rule sets. When one player has the advantage over another, it is not unknown for that player’s score shouted by spectators to be updated accordingly (e.g., “15–30” instead of “15–love”).

Winning the Game

In tennis, a player wins a game by scoring four points in a row. These points are called game points. To score a point, a player must hit the ball over the net and into the other player’s court. If the other player is unable to hit the ball back over the net, then the first player scores a point.

Score of Seven

The score of a tennis match is typically described as the result of a player wins a set by two games. If one player wins four sets, that player wins the match. The first player to win a set is said to have won “the first set,” the second player to win a set is said to have won “the second set,” and so on.

A game is won by the first player to win four points with a margin of two points or more over their opponent. A game comprises a sequence of points played with the same player serving, and is won by the first side to have won at least four points with a margin of two or more points over their opponents. The running score of each game is described in a manner peculiar to tennis: scores from zero (referred to as “love”) up to three points are described as “0”, “15”, “30”, and “40”, respectively. If at least three points have been scored by each side and a player has one more point than his opponent, the score is known as deuce (and no matter how many points subsequently are scored, provided they do not cancel deuce each time they occur, it remains ‘deuce’). If at least three points have been scored by each side and players are tied at 40-40 (“deuce”), then no matter what happens in subsequent points during that same game, scores for that game remain ‘deuce’ until one side pulls ahead by two or more (at which point it becomes ‘advantage’, from which only one hasty recovery can be made

Score of Six

In tennis, a player who wins four points in a row wins the game. However, if both players have won three points each, the score is ‘three all’ or ‘deuce’. To win the game from deuce, a player must win two points in a row. If the score becomes ‘deuce’ again, the same process is repeated until one player has two clear points and so wins the game.

Sometimes, both players will have won three points each and the score will be ‘advantage’ to one of them. This means that if that player now wins the next point, they will win the game. If their opponent wins the next point however, the score goes back to deuce.

Conclusion

In summary, scoring in tennis is a bit more complicated than just keeping track of who wins the most points. Games are scored based on a point system, with players having to reach at least four points to win a game. Sets are scored based on a best-of-three or best-of-five format, and matches are usually best-of-three sets or best-of-five sets. The player who wins the most sets in a match is declared the winner.