How to Keep Score in Tennis
To somebody who has never played, watched or experienced a tennis match, keeping score in this sport may seem strange and unnatural. This is a sport that is enjoyed in nearly every country, including large tournaments and a lot of television coverage. When watching tennis on television you rarely hear an announcer going over the scoring before, during or after the match so getting to know how it works can be tough. This article goes over the basics of tennis scoring and after reading, you should feel like an expert scorekeeper.
First: It all begins with love
The main increment of scoring in tennis is known as a set. Within a set their are individual games, which consist of several points. The point system is where many people have trouble, because of its non-sequential increase. It begins with each player having "love," which is basically the same as zero. Once a point is scored by a player, that player now has 15. From there it goes to 30 and finally 40. When a player who has 40 wins a point, they have won the game. However, the player must win the game by two points, so in the event of a 40-40 tie, the players are in what is called "deuce". At this point, each point won gives that player the advantage and then the next sequential point counts as a winning point. There can be an infinite number of deuces if the points alternate continually.
Second: Game and set score
The set score is easy enough to grasp. The first person to get to six games wins that set. Most games are either best of three or five sets. Once again, a player must win by two. If it is tied at six sets a piece then there is a tiebreaker that is played. This is simply the first person to get to seven points and win by two.