If you’re looking for a fun and exciting way to spend an afternoon, settling down in front of the TV with a nice beverage in one hand and the TV remote in the other, to enjoy a competitive match of tennis is one of life’s greatest pleasures.
As a spectator, tennis really does have everything you could want from the sport. It’s exciting, it’s physically demanding for the players, it’s extremely competitive, and you never know what you’re going to get from the first serve up until the umpire signals the end of the match.
As entertaining as tennis is, keeping up with the scoring system can be a bit of a headache, especially if you’re more of a casual viewer or are simply just starting to show an interest in the sport. Tennis is unique in how it is scored and is most certainly not scored in the same way as sports such as soccer. Once you have a true understanding of how tennis is scored, though, you’ll have an even greater appreciation and admiration for the sport.
How Many Points, Games, and Sets Are in a Tennis Match?
As we talked about previously, the scoring system in tennis is not quite as simple as it is in a lot of other sports. However, once you understand the basics, it’s nowhere near as complex as you might have first thought.
A tennis match consists of a sequence of points, games, and sets. A game requires a minimum of four points, with the winner being the first player to get two more points than their opponent. A set is won by the player who reaches six games and has a lead of at least two games over their opponent. Depending on the tournament, a standard match can be either the best of three or five sets. So, the exact number of points, games, and sets in a match can change because it depends on how each player performs.
Going back to the points, the name of the 4 points in a tennis game is love (zero), 15, 30, 40, and ‘game.’
If you’re still struggling, try to remember the number ‘2’. Tennis is a sport of twos. To win a game, you must get two points ahead of your opponent, and to win a set, you must win two more games than your opponent.
Average Number of Games and Points in a Tennis Match
We’ve answered the question of how many points, games, and sets are in a tennis match, but just to be clear, let’s recap.
Of course, the numbers can vary, but, generally speaking, an average of 10 games per set is the norm. This would liken with an average score of 6 – 4.
If we’re going with these figures, a best of 3 sets match would likely consist of roughly 20 games, assuming it was settled in straight sets. If not, and it went to a third set, 30 games would be the most likely.
Assuming that the average score of a game is 4 – 2, which equates to an average of 6 points per game, we can calculate the total number of points by multiplying the average points per game by the total number of games.
So, the average number of points in a 20-game tennis match would be approximately 120 points, and in a 30-game match, it would be approximately 180 points.
How Does Tennis Scoring Work?
Okay, so we know the basics behind scoring a tennis match, but like most things in life, it’s not quite as simple as you may have thought.
To help you get a better grasp of the scoring system in tennis, we’re now going to look at things in more detail.
Love
What is love? (Baby, don’t hurt me) Apologies for the poor Haddaway lyrics there, but seriously, what is love? Well, from a relationship standpoint, we can’t really help you, unfortunately. From a tennis standpoint, however, we’ve got you covered.
When watching a tennis match takes place on the TV, you’ve probably heard the umpire calling out ‘love’ when scoring the match. But why? Well, because love is a score of zero. As a tennis player, love is something you want to avoid. In the real world, that’s a different matter, but in tennis, love is your enemy.
If you’re playing tennis and your serve wins you the first point of the game, you would be on 15, while your opponent would be on ‘love.’ Therefore, the score would be 15-love in your favor.
Now, you’re probably wondering why it’s called love and not just ‘zero,’ and it all comes down to translation. You see, a zero (0) looks like an egg in terms of appearance. In fact, many other sports call a score of zero/nil/naught a goose egg or a duck egg. That’s all well and good, but how the heck does egg sound like love? Well, in English, it doesn’t, but in French, the word for egg is ‘l’oeuf,’ which, in English pronunciation, sounds very similar to ‘love.’ There’s a bit of useful trivia for you the next time you’re taking part in the family quiz.
Deuce
Remember how we said tennis was a sport of twos? Well, here’s a look at that in a lot more detail.
In tennis, when a game reaches a score of 40-40, it is in a state of a tie, or what is commonly referred to as ‘deuce.’ It’s mathematically impossible for a player to win directly with a 2-point lead from this score; hence the game isn’t allowed to end. Instead, the game goes into a ‘deuce,’ during which the play continues until a player achieves a 2-point lead. Only then can that player be declared the winner of the game.
If the player that is serving scores a point, this will be known as ‘advantage in,’ which some abbreviate to ‘add-in’ for short. If the player receiving the serves secures a point, it’s known as ‘advantage out’ or ‘add-out’ for short.
The deuce will carry on for as long as it takes for a player to get two points back-to-back, which will then win the game for them.
Again, in case you were wondering, we have the French to thank for the term ‘deuce.’ You see, the term comes from the French word ‘Deux de Jeux,’ which means two games (yes, we know it refers to points technically).
Tennis Sets
A tennis match is comprised of two different types of six-game sets. These are:
- Advantage sets
- Tiebreak sets
Each of these two sets has its own unique characteristics and can pose its own unique challenges for tennis players.
Advantage Set
When playing tennis, a match can be decided using the “Advantage Set” system. To win a set, a player must win a minimum of six games and be ahead by two games. If both players have won six games each, the match will continue until one player has a two-game lead. This can result in scores such as 7-5, 8-6, 9-7, or even more dramatic scores like 14-12 or 18-16.
However, a significant downside to the Advantage Set is how long the match could potentially go on. With no cap on the number of games in a set, you could end up watching or playing tennis for an incredibly long time, especially if both players keep winning their service games and the score keeps mounting. This might be exciting for some hardcore tennis fans, but it poses quite a problem for the players who could get overly exhausted. It also wreaks havoc on tournament schedules, leaving organizers at a loss for when to slot subsequent matches involving the participants of an exceedingly long one.
An infamous reference to such a situation is the Wimbledon 2010 face-off between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut. Their marathon match, with the final set ending at an astonishing 70-68, lasted more than 11 hours over three days! Although it was exciting to some degree, it raised questions about player health and safety and whether tennis rules should allow matches to drag on indefinitely.
Tiebreak Set
Tiebreak sets are not designed with longevity in mind.
In a tiebreak set, if the score reaches 5-5, a player must secure a 2-game lead to win the set.
If, however, the score is tied at 6 games each, players will begin a tiebreak game. A tiebreak game is scored with consecutive numbers which begin at zero. The winner, very simply, is the first player or team to reach ‘7 points’ by a margin of 2 points. The game score can be low such as 7 – 5, or could be very high, such as 17 – 15.
8 Game Pro Set
A tennis pro set is a style of gameplay in tennis that is shorter in duration than traditional sets. It’s used in many amateur, club, and college-level competitions.
The great thing about these pro sets as a spectator is the fact that you don’t need to be a mathematical genius to work out the scoring system. In a tennis pro set, instead of playing best of three or five sets, players compete to be the first to win 8 games, with the first to reach this goal declared the match winner. However, if the score is tied at 7 games, a 7-point tiebreaker will be played.
These types of matches are proving more popular due largely to the fact that they help to save so much time. You see, most amateur league matches are held in the evening simply because of the fact that people work during the day and can only play in the evening after work.
Standard matches, which typically span 2 or 3 sets, can extend for several hours. In contrast, a pro set accelerates the game by requiring just 8 game wins for victory instead of the usual best of 3 or 5 sets. This format ensures the match concludes in a shorter time, allowing players and spectators to return home at a more reasonable hour.
Short Set
With people working longer hours than ever, and indeed, having families to look after and lives to lead, after a long day, people don’t always have several hours to spare playing tennis, even with pro sets. The solution? Short sets.
Short sets are usually held as part of 1-day tournaments, so obviously, matches cannot last long and need to be completed quickly, especially as players may need to play up to 4 matches in a day.
Very simply, a short set is won by the first player to win 4 games, as long as they’re 2 games clear (there’s that 2 again).
In order to decide close sets, tiebreakers are again used, in different formats, so things such as 4-4 or 3-3, rather than 6-6.
Usually, if it is a one-day tournament, matches are typically decided over a ‘best of three sets’ format. Here, the first two sets are usually short sets, whereas the third is a ‘championship tiebreaker’ in which the winner is the first to secure 10 points.
Fast 4
As time is a commodity very few possess in abundance, sometimes an even shorter format is required, which is known as ‘fast 4’. Not to be confused with one of the many Vin Diesel movies in The Fast and the Furious franchise.
With fast 4 sets, matches are once again 2 short sets, with a tiebreak if required. Here, if a game reaches deuce, it will be known as a ‘sudden death deuce’ as a single point is played, with the receiver being able to choose which side the server can serve from.
Another way of speeding things up here is with the ‘no let’ rule. This rule basically means that if the ball clips the net but still clearly lands ‘in,’ the point would stand and would remain live. Usually, the point would need to be restarted.
