Love? Equality? Advantage? What does it all mean?
Tennis has long had the most original way of keeping score, and the origins of the sport’s scoring system are actually quite ambiguous. So if you’re looking for exactly why tennis’s scoring system is so strange, you might not be satisfied with the answer, but we’ll give it a try.
Don’t be intimidated by the way tennis scores are recorded: it’s certainly unorthodox, but it’s pretty simple when you break it down piece by piece and point by point.
How does tennis scoring work?
Tennis matches are played in three phases: a game, a set and a match.
A game is played until a player scores four points, which a player can win in several different ways (more details below).
A together is a collection of games, played until a player wins six (or more) games.
A match Tennis is played over three or five sets. In the four major tennis tournaments, the “Grand Slam” tournaments, men’s matches are played over five sets, while women’s matches are played over three sets.
| Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Player A | 6 | 5 | 6 |
| Player B | 4 | 7 | 1 |
In this example, Player A won the match with a score of 6-4, 5-7, 6-1. Player B won the second set by two games.
Mark a match
A game is won when a player scores four points (or more): 15, 30, 40 and the winning point.
If both players reach 40, the score is called a “tie.” After a tie, a player must win two consecutive points: the first point, called the “advantage,” and the winning point. If the opposing player scores the next point, the game ends in a tie again.
- 0 points = Love
- 1 point = 15
- 2 points = 30
- 3 points = 40
- Tie score = All
- 40-40 = equality
- Server wins two points = Ad-In
- Receiver wins two points = Ad-Out
Score a set
A player must win at least six games to win a together. A player must also win by two games to win the set. So, if a game is played to a score of 6-5 in the set, then the leading player must win a seventh game to win the set.
The rules are a little different for a tie-break set. If a set is tied at 6-6, a tie-break is played to determine the winner of the set, resulting in a score of 7-6. Rather than using traditional tennis scoring, the score is one, two, three, etc. The first player to win seven points, by two, wins the tie-break and the set. However, the point total varies by tournament.
Mark the match
A match is completed (usually best of three or best of five) when one player reaches six sets and wins by at least two sets.
| Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Player A | 6 | 5 | 6 |
| Player B | 4 | 7 | 1 |
In this example, Player A won the match 6-4, 5-7, 6-1. Player B won the second set 7-5, reaching the sixth game first but having to win by two games.
Tennis Scoring Rules
There are several ways to score a point. Among them:
- A non-returnable ball (the ball bounces twice);
- Double fault;
- As (non-returnable service);
- Ball hit out of bounds (lines count as inside);
- Ball hit into the net.
Tennis Scoring Terms and Their Meaning
Unlike a normal 1 point or 2 point game like in any other normal sport, the first three points in tennis are 15, 30 and 40.
If you’re looking for a definitive answer as to why tennis uses the scoring system that it does, unfortunately there is no clear origin. However, there are a few different theories:
— Originally, tennis scores were recorded on clock faces, with hands placed at 15, 30, and 45 minutes to keep score. The 45-minute mark was changed to 40 minutes to account for the advantage, with play ending at 60 minutes. However, minute hands were not added to clocks until the 17th century, so this is more theory or urban legend than truth.
— Numerical values are attached to a French game, game of palm, Jeu de paume was similar to tennis, but was played with the hand rather than a racket. The serving player could move 15 feet per point scored, up to 45. The game was played on a 90-foot court. Jeu de paume eventually gave way to tennis as we know it today.
— The same can be said of the use of the word “love”: there is no definitive answer, but it probably comes from the expression “the egg,” which means “egg” in French. If you’ve never seen an egg, it looks like a 0.
Tennis score after a tie
If both players reach 40, this is known as devil (not 40-all). A player must score two consecutive points to win the game after a tie. The first point scored after a tie is called an “advantage”. Once a player scores an advantage, his next point is a winning one. If that player loses the point, the score then returns to a tie.
“In advantage” is the server’s point, while “out advantage” is the point of the player receiving the serve.
