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Tennis scoring explained: love, deuce and the tiebreak

Tennis · 5 min read · Updated August 2026

Tennis scoring looks arbitrary until you see it as three nested races: points make a game, games make a set, sets make a match. This follows the ITF Rules of Tennis.

Points in a game

The server's score is always called first.

Deuce, and the two points you need

At 40-40 the game is at deuce, and you have to win two points in a row to take it. Win one and you have advantage. Lose the next and it goes back to deuce, for as long as it takes.

Many leagues and most doubles use no-ad instead: at 40-40 a single point decides the game. The receiver chooses which side to receive from, and in doubles the receiving team chooses. Agree which one you are playing before you start, because it changes tactics.

Games in a set

• First to 6 games wins the set, but you need a margin of two.
• At 6-6 you play a tiebreak, and the set is written down as 7-6.
• An advantage set has no tiebreak and simply continues until someone leads by two. It is rare now but still turns up in team and junior events.

How a tiebreak is served

This is where casual players go wrong most often, so it is worth learning properly.

• First to 7 points, win by 2.
• The player due to serve serves one point from the deuce court. After that, serving alternates every two points, starting from the ad court.
• Change ends every 6 points, and again at the end of the tiebreak.
• Whoever received the first point of the tiebreak serves the first game of the next set.

The 10-point match tiebreak

First to 10, win by 2, with the same serving pattern and ends changed every 6 points. It replaces a full deciding set in most doubles, many leagues, and since 2022 in the final set of all four Grand Slams at 6-6.

It is normally recorded as a set won 7-6. Pick one way of writing it down and stay consistent, because mixing representations quietly breaks statistics later.

Changing ends

Change ends after the first, third and every subsequent odd game, and at the end of a set only when the total number of games in it was odd.

Common questions

Why is zero called love?

The likeliest explanation is the French l'oeuf, an egg, for the shape of a zero. Nobody can prove it, and anyone who tells you they can is guessing.

What is a bagel?

A set won 6-0. A 6-1 set is sometimes called a breadstick.

Do I have to win by two games in a tiebreak set?

Not in games. At 6-6 the tiebreak settles it and the set is recorded 7-6.

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