How Tennis Scoring Works: Points, Games, Sets and Tiebreaks

Points: love, 15, 30, 40, game

Under Rule 5 of the ITF Rules of Tennis, a standard game is called like this, with the server's score first: no point is love, the first point is 15, the second 30, the third 40, and the fourth point wins the game.

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. Players and umpires never say “zero”: 15–0 is called 15–love, and 0–0 at the start of a game is love-all. Equal scores below 40 are called “all”, as in 15-all or 30-all.

Deuce and advantage

When both players have won three points, the score is deuce (40–40). The next point gives that player advantage. If the same player also wins the following point, they win the game. If they lose it, the score goes back to deuce. In the ITF's words, a player needs to win two consecutive points immediately after deuce to win the game, so a game can in theory go on for ever.

Advantage to the server is often called ad-in; advantage to the receiver is ad-out. A break point is any point where the receiver would win the game with one more point, such as 30–40 or ad-out.

1. 40–40: deuce.
2. Server wins the point: advantage server (ad-in).
3. Receiver wins the point: back to deuce.
4. Receiver wins the point: advantage receiver (ad-out, a break point).
5. Receiver wins the point: game, receiver (the server has been broken).

Many club leagues, college matches and most doubles formats use No-Ad scoring instead: at deuce, one deciding point wins the game and the receiver chooses which side to receive from. It is an official alternative in Appendix VI of the ITF rules. Padel uses the same idea under the name golden point.

Games and sets: how many games in a set?

A set is won by the first player to win six games with a margin of two games. So 6–4 ends the set, but 6–5 does not: the set goes on to 7–5 or 6–6.

Rule 6 allows two kinds of set. In an advantage set play continues until someone is two games clear, so scores like 9–7 are possible. In a tiebreak set, which almost every event uses today, the score of 6–6 is settled by a tiebreak game and the set is recorded as 7–6. The event must announce in advance which method it uses, including for the final set.

Service alternates every game, and the players change ends after the first, third and every following odd game of each set (Rule 10). That is why players sit down at 1–0, 2–1, 3–2 and so on.

The tiebreak at 6–6

In a tiebreak the points are counted zero, 1, 2, 3 and so on. The first player to reach seven points with a two-point lead wins the tiebreak and the set; if needed it continues past 7, so 8–6 or 12–10 are possible.

The player due to serve starts with one point, then the opponent serves the next two, and from then on each player serves two points in a row. Players change ends after every six points. Whoever served first in the tiebreak receives in the first game of the next set. Our tiebreak rules guide has a point-by-point serving table for singles and doubles.

The match tiebreak (super tiebreak)

A match tiebreak, also called a super tiebreak or 10-point tiebreak, replaces a deciding final set. At one set all, instead of playing a third set, the players play one tiebreak to 10 points, won by two. It is an approved alternative in Appendix VI of the ITF rules, and it is the normal format in doubles, senior and Masters draws and most amateur leagues because it keeps a match inside a court booking.

Do not confuse it with the final-set tiebreak. Since 2022 the four Grand Slams play the full final set and, only if it reaches 6–6, a 10-point tiebreak decides it.

Matches: best of three or best of five

Rule 7 allows a match to be best of three sets (win two) or best of five sets (win three). Men's singles at the Grand Slams are best of five; women's singles and almost every other event, from tour level to your club, are best of three.

Shorter formats are common in everyday tennis: No-Ad games, short sets to four games, one pro set to eight or nine games, or two sets plus a match tiebreak. They are all variations of the same counting, just with different targets.

• Best of 3, tiebreak at 6–6: the standard format.
• 2 sets + 10-point match tiebreak: the usual league and doubles format.
• No-Ad: a deciding point at deuce, often combined with a match tiebreak.
• Short sets: first to four games, tiebreak at 4–4.
• Pro set: one long set to eight or nine games.

How to read a tennis scoreboard

A TV or app scoreboard shows one row per player or team. A dot or ball icon marks the server. The columns after the name are the sets: each number is the games that player won in that set. The last column is the current game in points (0, 15, 30, 40, AD).

For example, a row reading “● Lee 6 3 30” and a second row reading “Silva 4 5 40” means Lee is serving, won the first set 6–4, trails 3–5 in the second, and is down 30–40, a break point that would give Silva the set. A small raised number next to a 6 or 7 (like 7⁵) is the loser's tiebreak score.

Why is tennis scored 15, 30, 40, and why is zero “love”?

Nobody knows for certain. The most repeated theory is a clock face: each point moved a hand a quarter of the way round, to 15, 30 and 45, and 45 was later shortened to 40 so it was quicker to say. Another links the numbers to the French game jeu de paume, in which players moved forward after winning points. Neither is proven; Wikipedia calls the origin obscure.

“Love” for zero has two popular explanations, also unproven: that it comes from the French l'œuf (egg, the shape of a zero), or from the phrase “playing for love”, meaning playing for nothing.

Keep score, then share it live

The easiest way to learn the counting is to use it. Our free online tennis scoreboard handles deuce, No-Ad, tiebreaks and the match tiebreak in the browser, with undo when someone calls the wrong score.

When the match matters to someone who isn't there, use the Racketlovers app. You and your opponent enter the games at each changeover, your opponent confirms them, and family and friends follow the match live in the free app from the link you share. The app asks for the tiebreak score when a set reaches 6–6 and checks that a match tiebreak really ended at 10 or more with a two-point lead.

Your first 5 matches in Racketlovers are free, with every feature. See how it works.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• ITF Rules of Tennis 2026 (Rules 5, 6, 7, 10, 14 and Appendix VI)
• Tennis Canada, Rules of the Court 2026 (full ITF text with notes)
• Tennis.com: All Grand Slams to use 10-point tiebreaker in final set (March 2022)
• Wikipedia: Tennis scoring system (history of 15, 30, 40)