Scoring

Scoring in Tennis

Scoring in tennis can be difficult to understand, and most people I know have learned it from Wii Tennis (which is not a bad way, to an extent!). The breakdown of the scoring goes from a match, to sets, to games, to points. Usually you play two out of three sets (first to win 2 sets wins the match). Sets are played to 6 games, meaning once you've reached 6 games you win the set. There are exceptions to that rule though, if you are tied at 5 to 5 in a set, you can either win the next two games and win the set 7-5, or if it gets to 6-6, you play a tiebreak for the set. The tiebreak is to 7 points, and you need to win by two. An example of a tiebreak score would be 7-4, and then you would have won the set 7-6. Games are not much simpler, but you are basically playing first to four points. The first point is 15, then 30, then 40, then game. So if I have won the first two points in a game, I am up 30-0. If I lost the next two, it is 30-30. If we are tied at 40-40, this is called deuce. From there, you have to win two points in a row to win the game. If I am serving at deuce and win the point, it is now Ad-In. If I lose the deuce point, it is Ad-Out. If I lose at Ad-In, it goes back to deuce. There are other intricacies to the scoring, and it does depend on the tournament, but those are the basics!

Here's a video that may help: