The Scoring System in Tennis

A tennis match is made up of sets. Each set is made up of games. And each game is made up of points.

Points

Each point begins with a serve, and is won or lost according to the rules of play.

  1. A score of zero points is called "love."
  2. When a player has a score of one point, his score is "15."
  3. A score of two points is called "30."
  4. A score of three points is called "40."
  5. If the player who previously had a score of 40 wins the next point, then he/she wins the game.
    • If the score is tied 40 to 40 (or "40-40"), then the score is called "Deuce." A player must win a game by at least two points, so a score of deuce indicates that both players have earned a score of 40 and the next one to take a two-point lead wins the game.
    • The winner of the deuce point is said to have the "advantage" since he/she just needs to win the next point to win the game. If the player with the advantage is the server, then the score is sometimes called "ad-in." If the player returning the serve has the advantage, the score is called "ad-out."
    • If the player with the advantage wins the next point, then he/she wins the game. But if the other player (the one without the advantage) wins the next point, the score returns to deuce since both players have won the same number of points and need to win two in a row to win the game.

The game score is always announced before each serve, with the server's score first. For example, if the server has won one point and the returner has won three points, then the game score is "15-40."

To help you learn about the scoring system using in tennis, click the button below to make up your own examples.

Games

As noted above, each game is won by the player who wins the point after his/her score is "40," or the player who wins the point when it is his/her "advantage."

One player serves for an entire game, and then his/her opponent serves the next game. The serve alternates between the players from game-to-game for the entire match.

Sets

A player wins a set when he/she has won at least 6 games and is leading by at least two games over his/her opponent. If a winner of the set is not decided by the time the set score is tied at 6 games apiece, then a "tie-breaker" game is played to determine the winner of the set.

Tie-Breakers
  1. The player who returned serve in the previous game serves the first point of the tie-breaker (the player who serves first in the tie-breaker has it count as his/her service game, so he/she will receive serve in the first game of the next set). Then the other player serves the next two points of the tie-breaker. The serve continues to alternate between the players, with each player serving two points on his/her turn.
  2. Points in the tie-breaker have no special names (such as 15, 30, and 40). However, "love" is still used to indicate zero points.
  3. The tie-breaker (and set) is won by the first player to win at least 6 points and be leading by at least 2 points.

Match

The tennis match is won by the first player to win 2 sets. In the men's "grand slam" events (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and U.S. Open), a match is won by the first player to win 3 sets.