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Scoring is identical in the singles and doubles games. A tennis game, when not prolonged by a tie, is played to four points, designated by the terms 15, 30, 40, and game, with zero points being referred to by the term love (possibly derived from the French word for egg, l'oeuf, referring to the physical appearance of the number zero). A tie at 40 is called deuce. Because a game must be won by two points, play continues from deuce until one player leads by a margin of two points. After reaching deuce, the player who can win the game on the next point is said to have the advantage, while a subsequent tied score is always called deuce. (A system referred to as “no-ad” is sometimes employed in which the winner of the point following the first deuce wins the game). In tennis competition, the score of the server is always given first. Typical scores at stages of a given tennis game might be “love-15” or “40-30.” The players or teams exchange sides after each odd-numbered game.
Players must win six games to win the set, but they must win by at least two games. Thus, if a set becomes tied at 5-5, at least 7 game victories are required to win the set. A tiebreaker is often employed if a set becomes tied at 6-6. A tiebreaker is generally played to 7 points, but because it too must be won by at least two points, it may be extended. The winner of a tiebreaker is recorded as having won the set 7-6, regardless of the point total achieved in the tiebreaker. Tennis matches are usually the best two out of three sets or the best three out of five sets.
Tennis is a fun game. When one is just learning the game, hitting the ball back and forth is fun already
but as the player's proficiency in the game increases, he wouldn't be content just hitting the ball. Eventually,
he would like to enjoy the game more by utilizing tennis scoring.
Tennis scoring takes a little getting used to. Generally, people play a set, or best out of three sets. Each set consists of a number of games. The first person to win six games wins the set; the smallest number of games in a set would be six (if the score were 6-0). However, to win a set you must win by two games, so if the score is 5-5, the set will go on till someone wins by two (7-5, 8-6, etc.), kind of like extra innings in baseball. In many competitions, players play a tiebreaker if the set is tied 6-6 instead of fighting it out for a two-game lead. Keep your attention in how tennis scoring is done by this series of examples: Love means zero; the first point scored is 15, the second point 30, the third point 40, and next point is game. Once again, a player needs to win a game by two points, so if the score is 40-40 it's called deuce, and then the next player to win a point has what's called advantage. If the same player wins the next point, the game is over. If he loses it, the score returns to deuce. The same person serves the ball throughout the entire game (the next player serves the next game, and they alternate until the set is over). The server's score is always said first. Like a lot of things, it sounds a lot more complicated on paper than it is in real life. Here's an imaginary game played between two players, Peter and Paul; watch how tennis scoring had been employed:
(Peter serves) 1st point: Peter wins score: 15-Love
 As for the history of tennis scoring, there are two background stories: 1. that it has its origin in medieval numerology. The number 60 was considered to be a "good" or "complete" number back then, in about the same way you'd consider 100 to be a nice round figure today. The medieval version of tennis, therefore, was based on 60--the four points when 15, 30, 45 (which we abbreviate to 40) and 60, or game.
2. The
Tennis scoring is something that any fan admiring the game should have any idea about. The scoring of badminton, volleyball and tennis are somehow similar but distinct from each other and there lies the mystique of the game of tennis.
Here's a few of my pages which display tennis scoring of the past and current tennis champions:
US Open Men's Singles Finals Results
US Open Women's Singles Finals Results
Wimbledon Men's Finals Results
Wimbledon Women's Finals Results
French Open Men's Finals Results
French Open Women's Finals Results
Australian Open Men's Finals Results
Australian Open Women's Finals Results
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