Tennis scoring rules
Tennis counts on three levels at once. Points build a game, games build a set, sets build the match — and each level has its own rule for what counts as winning by enough.
The odd vocabulary is the part that trips people up, so start there.
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Points within a game
- No points: love. Then 15, 30, 40.
- Win a point at 40 and you take the game — unless your opponent is also on 40.
- 40–40 is deuce. From there you need two points in a row.
- Win one point from deuce and you have advantage; win the next and the game is yours. Lose it and it is back to deuce.
- The server's score is always called first.
Games within a set
- First to six games takes the set, provided they lead by two.
- 6–5 is not enough: play on. 7–5 wins it.
- At 6–6, a tiebreak decides the set, which then finishes 7–6.
The tiebreak
A tiebreak is counted in plain numbers, not 15/30/40. First to seven points wins it, again needing a two-point margin — so 8–6, 10–8 and longer are all possible.
The first server serves one point, then serves alternate in pairs, and players change ends every six points. A match tiebreak to ten points sometimes replaces a deciding set in doubles and in club play.
Frequently asked questions
The most-repeated explanation is a clock face moving in quarters, with 45 worn down to 40 in speech. It is not documented, and the scoring was in place long before any agreed reason for it.
40–40. From deuce a player must win two points in a row: the first gives them advantage, the second the game. Losing the point at advantage returns the game to deuce, so a single game can go on a long time.
Best of three is standard, so the first to two sets wins. Men's singles at the four Grand Slams plays best of five.
At 6–6 in games, points are counted 1, 2, 3 and the first to seven with a two-point lead takes the set 7–6. One serve, then two each, changing ends every six points.