Love means nothing in tennis--literally. That's one of the many nuances you'll need to learn in order to score properly in tennis. The game of tennis has many scoring rules that, if you haven't played before, may seem a bit foreign to you. But, with a little patience and practice, scoring in tennis will become second nature.
Game Scoring
Points in a game of tennis are scored as "love, 15, 30, 40 and game." To win a game, the player in the lead must have at least a two-point advantage when he wins the "game point." Because "love" equals zero, both players start out at love-love, or zero-zero. Each time a player wins a point during the game, the score is advanced according to the love, 15, 30, 40 score-keeping, with the server's score always listed first. So, for example, a server winning the first two points of a game is said to be ahead "30 to love."
If the two players advance to a score of 40 to 40, this is called a "deuce" game, and the game will continue until one player has gained a two-point advantage; this ends that particular game.
Set Scoring
A "set" of tennis is defined by the first player to win six games with at least a margin of a two-game lead. Therefore, set scores of 6-0, 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 and 6-4 are all valid set scores. The one exception to this "six games wins the set" rule is if a player wins six games, but does not have at least a two-game margin (6-5); in that case, play continues. If the lead player wins the next game, the set is over, 7-5. However, if the score goes to 6-6, the general rule in tennis is that the players play a 12-point "tie-breaker."
In a 12-point tie-breaker, the players alternate serving points in the following serving rotation: The first server serves one point, the second server serves two points and thereafter, each player continues to serve two points each until one player has won seven points with a margin of at least two points over his opponent. If the first player to win seven points does not have at least a two-point margin, play continues until a player with at least seven points has gained a two-point advantage over her opponent.
Match Scoring
A tennis match consists of the best of three sets. So the first player to win two sets wins the match.
Alternate Scoring Rules
The United States Tennis Association (USTA) and other tennis governing bodies have created a few alternate scoring rules. For example, in some professional men's tennis matches, matches consist of the best three out of five sets. Also, the USTA has developed alternative set scoring rules intended to shorten matches, such as playing a third set tie-breaker in lieu of a full third set.
The general rules of tennis scoring and some of the alternate scoring rules can be found in the USTA publication "Friends at Court."
References
- "Friends at Court"; United States Tennis Association, Inc.; 2007
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