Tennis scoring: Rules, points and everything to know about how matches work
Keeping score of tennis matches can be confusing, but in reality it's quite simple to understand.
Whether you're following the journey of the most elite tennis stars during a Grand Slam event or just enjoying a neighborhood match, understanding the point system plays a crucial role in the sport's entertainment value. Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic have recently put that knowledge to the test with a couple of marathon matchups that could leave heads spinning for even the biggest tennis diehards.
If you find yourself following the journey of Alcaraz or any of the many American athletes participating at the U.S. Open or any other tennis tournament, here’s everything you need to know about tennis' scoring system.
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How do games, sets and match work?
The three phases of a tennis match are games, sets and matches.
A game is played up to four points (explained below) and is an integral part of sets. The winner of a game earns one point in the set, which is played to the first of six. For example, a set score of 6-4 means a player won six games compared to four by their opponent.
Sets can be tied at six, which then results in a tiebreak. The first to seven points is the winner of a tiebreak, but if both players are tied at six, the first to go up by two wins that game. Scoring during a tiebreak is different than scoring during a game – tiebreak uses traditional one, two, three, etc. scoring to determine the winner.
Matches are played in a best-of-three format for women’s and best-of-five format for men’s at major tournaments. The four tennis majors are the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open. An example of a winning score during a men’s match at a major is 6-3, 7-5, 6-2.
What does the point system look like?
Unlike basketball, each point in tennis doesn’t equal one but there is a consistent pattern. A player must win four points to win a game. The four points are: 15, 30, 40 and the game-winning point.
If both players reach 40 points, it’s called deuce. You play one more point to determine who has the advantage. For example, if the server wins the next point, it’s advantage in. If the returner wins the point, it’s advantage out.
If the person with the advantage wins the next point, they take that game. If not, it returns to deuce and the process begins all over.
How can you win a point?
There are multiple ways you can win a point during a tennis match.
The simplest is if your opponent fails to return a ball that’s been played inside the court. A ball is considered in if it lands between the baseline and net and does not land in what is called the "doubles alley."
The doubles alley is the two lines that run on the side of the court. They are used during doubles play, but not during singles. If a ball bounces on a line on the baseline or doubles alley, it’s considered in play, different from basketball where if a ball bounces on the side or baseline, it’s out of play.
A point can be won if the ball bounces twice, it’s hit into the net, it’s hit out of bounds or if the server commits a double fault. A double fault is when back-to-back serves do not land in the proper service box or are missed completely.