Tennis scoring explained: love, deuce, advantage, sets and tie-breaks

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Tennis scoring confuses almost everyone at first. Points are counted 15, 30, 40, zero is called "love", and a game can go on indefinitely. Once you understand the three layers, points, games and sets, it all fits together.

Points: love, 15, 30, 40

Each game is played as points, with the server's score always called first:

0 points: love
1 point: 15
2 points: 30
3 points: 40
4th point: game, as long as you are at least two points ahead

So if the server has won two points and the receiver one, the score is "30-15". If the receiver leads by the same margin, it is "15-30". When both players have the same score it is called "all", as in "15-all" or "30-all".

Deuce and advantage

When both players reach 40, the score is not "40-all" but deuce. From deuce, a player has to win two points in a row:

Win the next point and you have advantage ("advantage server" or "advantage receiver", often shortened to "ad in" and "ad out").
Win the point after that and you win the game.
Lose it and the score goes back to deuce.

This is why some games go on for many minutes, with the score swinging between deuce and advantage again and again.

No-ad scoring

To shorten matches, some formats use no-ad scoring: at deuce, a single deciding point is played and whoever wins it takes the game. The receiver usually chooses which side to receive from. You will find it in professional doubles on the main tours, in many college and club matches, and in social tennis.

Games and sets

A set is won by the first player to win six games, with a lead of at least two. So 6-4 wins a set, but 6-5 does not; play continues to 7-5.
If the set reaches 6-6, it is usually decided by a tie-break, and the set score is recorded as 7-6.
Players change ends after the first game and then after every two games (after odd-numbered games).

Matches

Most matches are the best of three sets: the first player to win two sets wins. Men's singles at the four Grand Slam tournaments (the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open) is best of five sets.

Tie-breaks

In a standard tie-break, points are counted simply as 1, 2, 3 and so on:

The first player to seven points, with a lead of two, wins the tie-break and the set. If it reaches 6-6, play continues until someone is two clear.
The player whose turn it is to serve serves the first point. After that, each player serves two points in turn.
Players change ends after every six points.

At the Grand Slams, a 10-point tie-break at 6-6 in the deciding set has been used since 2022, when the four tournaments agreed a common rule. Before that, each had its own approach, including deciding sets with no tie-break at all, which produced some famously long matches. Some amateur and doubles formats replace the whole final set with a match tie-break (first to 10, win by two), sometimes called a super tie-break.

Calling the score in a club match

In casual play, the server calls the score before each point, loudly enough for the opponent to hear, server's score first. Calling the score clearly avoids most arguments. Between games, the game score is often called too: "four-three".

Why is it counted like this?

Nobody knows for certain. Scoring in tennis is old, and several theories exist, none of them proven:

The clock-face theory: scores may once have been marked on a clock dial, moving a quarter at a time, 15, 30, 45 and then 60 for the game. Forty-five may later have been shortened to 40 because it is quicker to say.
The real tennis theory: the counting may come from the older court game of real tennis (jeu de paume) in France, possibly linked to positions on the court or to wagers.
"Love" is often said to come from the French "l'oeuf", the egg, because of the shape of a zero, but there is little evidence. Another suggestion is the phrase "playing for love", meaning playing for nothing.
"Deuce" is usually traced to the French "à deux", meaning that two more points are needed, which is one of the better-supported explanations.

Which part of tennis scoring tripped you up when you started, or what rule would you like explained? Ask in the comments below.