by Y Tian

Created on: April 30, 2009   Last Updated: July 11, 2009

Tennis is a remarkably popular sport that has endured through the ages. With four grand slams each year as well as the Davis Cup, Fed Cup along with all the other WTA tournaments, fans can enjoy watching this sport all year round. Beginners, however, may struggle to understand the scoring system in tennis and this may dampen their enjoyment of the sport. So how exactly do we keep score in tennis?

POINTS into GAME

A point is won whenever the opponent fails to return the ball back into the court. This occurs either when the opponent fails to return the ball or manages to return the ball but it goes out of the court. Whenever the score is announced, the server's score is announced first followed by the receiver's score. Each player begins with zero points (called out as love, which is from the French who thinks 0 looks like an egg or l'oeuf). When a player wins his first point, his score would go up to 15. For example, if the server manages to win the first point, then the score would be 15-love. Alternatively, if the receiver manages to win the first point, the score would be announced as love-15.

Following this fashion, a player's second point is 30, third point is 40 and the player wins the game should he win the fourth point with a two points lead. For example, if the score was 40-30 and the server wins the next point, then the server would win the game. The server would then be said to have held his serve. In this case, the final point is suitably termed "game point." Alternatively, if the score was 30-40 and the receiver wins the next point, then the receiver would win the game. The receiver would then have broken his opponent's serve. In this case, the final point is suitably termed "break point."

In the case where the score is tied at 40-40 and no player has a two points lead, the game would be called "deuce." Whoever wins the next point would be said to have the advantage (i.e. advantage player A) and he then has the opportunity to win the game if and only if he wins the following point as well. If the opponent wins the next point, the game would go back to deuce. Thus, in the situation of a deuce, whoever wins two consecutive points would win the game.

GAMES into SET

The numbers that are displayed on the final scoreboard during the game are the number of games that each player holds in the current set. Each game the player wins increases their game score by one. For example, a score of 4-3 would be called out as "player A currently leads four games

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