Why Is Tennis Scored That Way?

Tennis has a unique scoring system that can be confusing for new fans of the sport. In this blog post, we’ll explain why tennis is scored the way it is.

The Basics

In tennis, a player scores a point by winning a rally (a sequence of strokes) in one of the following ways:

Love

Love is the score given to a player who has won zero points in a particular game. In tennis, this can be due to several reasons, such as:

-The player is serving and has not yet won a point.
-The player lost the previous point and thus begins the next game at 0-0 (“love all”).
-The player won the previous game but did not yet win a point in the current one (“carryover love”).
-When the score of the game is tied at 40-40 (deuce), players may elect to start the next point from 0-0 (love all), rather than play out the deuce. This is commonly referred to as starting a new game at “love”.

Deuce

When the score reaches deuce, both players have won three points each. The next point will decide the game; therefore, deuce is sometimes called game-point. If one player scores the next point, that player wins the game. However, if the other player scores the next point, the score returns to deuce, and both players have another opportunity to win the game.

Advantage

When the score reaches deuce, the player who scores the next point wins the game. However, if the player who scores the next point is also the server, that player only wins the game if he/she scores again on the next point (this is called winning with an ace). If the opponent scores on the next point, then it is back to deuce. If neither player can win two consecutive points, then they keep playing until one of them finally does.

Scoring

When learning how to play tennis, one of the first things you’ll need to understand is how points are scored. In tennis, points are scored by the player who wins the rally. A rally is a series of hits that goes back and forth between the players. The first player to hit the ball over the net and have it land inside the other player’s court wins the rally and scores a point.

Games

In tennis, a game is won by the first player to score four points (or “games”), regardless of the actual score. Points are awarded as follows:

If the server scores a point, he or she earns a “game point.”
If the receiver scores a point, it’s called a “break point” for the receiver.
If the server wins the next point, he or she wins the game. If, however, the receiver wins the next point, it’s again a break point for that player.
The pattern continues until one player either earns four points in a row (known as a “set”), or until one player has more points at the end of a set than any other player (known as winning by “margin of victory”).

Let’s say that Nadal is ahead 6-4 in games. That means he needs just two more games to win this particular set. If Djokovic were ahead 6-5 in games instead, Nadal would only need one more game to win—but if Djokovic were ahead 7-6 in games, Nadal would need three more games to win.

Sets

In tennis, a set consists of a sequence of games played with service alternating between games, ending when the count of games won meets certain criteria. A game consists of a sequence of points played with the same player serving. A point is scored when the server fails to win the point before their opponent.

The traditional scoring system is as follows:

A game is won by the first player to have won four points with a margin of two points or more over their opponent. The 4th point is called game point; if it is not game point, then regardless of who serves, the score is “15-all”, which means both players have won five points each. If at least three points have been scored by each player and one player has more points than their opponent, then that player has won one set. A set is won by the first player to have won at least six games and at least two games more than their opponent or, alternatively, by the first player to win seven games. If one player has won six games and their opponent five, an additional game is played like a tiebreaker to decide who wins the set; this additional game is not counted towards either players’ sets total for match purposes but does count towards deciding who must serve first in any subsequent set(s). The tiebreaker consistesed of seven alternate-service points, starting from zero (0–0)

Matches

In tennis, a match is typically best out of 3 or 5 sets. A set is won by the first player to 6 games, with a margin of at least 2 games (i.e., 6-4, 7-5). If the score reaches 6-5, then a tiebreaker is played to determine the winner of the set. In a tiebreaker, the first player to 7 points wins the set. The player who wins the most sets in a match wins the match.

Why the Scoring System Works

The first time you sit down to watch a tennis match, the scoring probably won’t make a whole lot of sense. Why not just play to 10 points like most other sports? There’s actually a very good reason behind the seemingly strange scoring system, and once you understand it, it actually makes a lot of sense.

The History of Tennis

The game of tennis has a long and complicated history, with the scoring system evolving over time to its current form.

Tennis is believed to have originated in 12th century France, and was originally played with the hands. The game gradually transitioned to using rackets by the 16th century, and became popular among the aristocracy.

The first known tennis tournament was held in 1877, at Wimbledon, which is now considered the oldest tennis tournament in the world. The Wimbledon tournament originally used a scoring system that awarded points for successful strokes, and games were played to a total of 21 points.

By the early 1900s, this scoring system had been replaced by the one that is still used today: games are played to a total of four points (15, 30, 40), and players must win by two clear points. If both players reach 40 points, then it is said to be “deuce”, and whichever player wins the next point takes “advantage”. If they then lose the next point, it goes back to deuce again. This process repeats until one player eventually wins two clear points in a row from deuce, at which point they win the game.

This scoring system has remained unchanged since its inception, though there have been minor variations over time in how many games are played in a set (usually between three and five), and how many sets are needed to win a match (usually two out of three or three out of five).

The Psychology of Scoring

Interestingly, research has shown that our brains are actually wired to prefer odd-numbered scoring systems. In one study, participants were asked to rate their satisfaction with different types of rewards (e.g., 10 points vs. 12 points). The results showed that people were significantly more satisfied with the odd-numbered rewards.

Why is this? One theory is that it has to do with our sense of fairness. When we receive an odd-numbered reward, we tend to see it as a fair outcome (e.g., getting 9 points instead of 8 points). On the other hand, when we receive an even-numbered reward, we tend to see it as unfair (e.g., getting 8 points instead of 9 points).

Thus, the scoring system in tennis may be unfair from an math standpoint, but it’s actually quite fair from a psychological standpoint. Our brains are wired to prefer odd-numbered scoring systems, and tennis happens to use one of these systems.

The Strategy of Scoring

In tennis, the player who wins the most points in a match is the winner. A match is usually best out of three or five sets. In a set, there must be a winner by two games. For example, if the score is 6-5, the next player to win a game will win the set 7-5. If the score becomes 6-6, then a tiebreaker comes into play. In order to win a tiebreaker, a player must win by at least two points. The first player to reach seven points with a margin of two wins the tiebreaker and the set.