How the Tennis scoring works

• Posted on 3 December 2020
• By Advantage
• 0

Just starting with tennis? The scoring system can be very intimidating. We explained the system in this blog post.

If you’ve been meaning to get into tennis or know a loved one who is an avid fan, the first thing you’ll want to understand is how tennis scoring system works. The game has perhaps one of the most interesting and unique scoring systems.

People who are new tend to be confused for a while before they fully get the hang of it. The reason being that the scoring system is vague and at certain points might not make sense. We have tried to create a comprehensive blog post to help you get closer to understanding the tennis scoring system.

Phases

A tennis match has three phases; a game, a set and a match.

• To win a match, you have to win 2 sets. In Championships they sometimes play till one wins 3 sets.
• To win a set, you have to win 6 games.
• To win a game, you have to win 4 points.

Scoring a Game

The games are scored starting at “love” which is zero and go up to forty, but are usually considered 4 points I.e., from love to 15, to 30, then to 40, after that is the game point that determines the winner.

• 0 points = Love
• 1 point = 15
• 2 points = 30
• 3 points = 40
• 40-40 = Deuce
• Tied Score = All

If both players make it to 40 it is called a Deuce. Deuce brings in a very interesting part of the tennis scoring system – Advantage. After deuce, one player must score two consecutive points to win the game. Of these, the first point is called the Advantage.

The advantage scoring is what aspired us to name our tennis clothing brand. Advantage brings you closer to victory!

Scoring a Set

Before you start I.e., the first serve in a new game, the one serving announces the score in sets. You have to say your first score and then your opponent’s. For example, if you lose the first set you would say “0-1”.

For a set the rules are a bit different than your usual game. If a set makes it to 6-6, a tiebreak game is played to determine a winner of the set. However, this is different from the traditional tennis scoring, a tie break is scored one, two, three and so on.
The first player who gets to 7 wins the tie break. You can only win a tiebreak when you are 2 points ahead, for example: when it's 6-6 you can only win the tiebreak with 6-8.

The first player that wins those 7 points, by two, wins the tiebreak and the set. The score of the set will be 6-7 (or 7-6).

Scoring a Match

The way to score a match is by winning two sets (or 3 in championships). If you won two sets, you win. If you each won a set, you'll have to play a third one to determine the winner.