The tennis score after deuce, and how the advantage loop works

The tennis score after deuce is advantage. Whoever wins the point at deuce holds it; win the next one too and the game is over, lose it and the score returns to deuce. There's no third rung above advantage — the only exception is no-ad scoring, where 40-40 is settled by a single point.

What is deuce in tennis

A game is scored love, 15, 30, 40. Win a fourth point and you take the game — unless your opponent is also sitting on 40. At 40-40 the score is called deuce, and from there someone has to win two points in a row.

The word is usually traced to the French à deux: two more points still needed. Two things follow. Under advantage scoring a game can never be won by a single point once it reaches deuce, and a game has no maximum length, because every return to deuce restarts the count. The shortest possible game is four points; the shortest game that reaches deuce is six, and each further deuce adds two. For the rest of the framework — games, sets, tiebreaks — see the tennis scoring rules.

The official call at 40-40 is "deuce," not "40-all." Both get understood at your local courts, but only one is the rule book's word.

The tennis score after deuce: the advantage loop

There are only three moves in the loop.

• Deuce → advantage. Whoever wins the point at deuce is now one point from the game.
• Advantage → game. That same player wins the next point, and the game is theirs.
• Advantage → deuce. The other player wins the next point, and the score resets. The advantage is gone, not banked.

That last line is the one people get wrong. Advantage doesn't accumulate. There is no "advantage-40," no double advantage, no running tally of how many times you held it. Win two straight points from deuce and the game ends; win one and lose one, in any order, and you're back to square one.

So a deuce game rewards consecutive points, not accumulated ones. Reach advantage three separate times and get pegged back each time, and those three leads are worth nothing — the next two points still have to come back to back.

Long games are also where the score itself goes missing. After the fourth or fifth trip through deuce, two honest players remember different things, and the disagreement usually gets settled by replaying a point nobody agrees on. Tennis Scoreboard is a tennis scoreboard app for iPhone and Apple Watch that tracks match scores, so the deuce count lives somewhere other than two players' memories.

Ad-in and ad-out: who actually holds the advantage

"Ad" is just advantage, shortened. In unumpired American matches the server calls the score, and the call is made from the server's point of view:

• Ad-in — the serving side holds the advantage.
• Ad-out — the returning side holds it.

The same moment gets two names depending on which end you're standing on. If you're receiving and you hear "ad-in," the next point is the one that beats you. Umpired matches sidestep that: the chair calls "advantage" plus the player's surname, or "advantage server" and "advantage receiver."

Called score	What it means	Played from	What the next point does
Deuce	Both sides have won an equal number of points, at least three each	Deuce court (right)	Sends one side to advantage
Ad-in	Advantage to the server	Ad court (left)	Server wins the game, or back to deuce
Ad-out	Advantage to the receiver	Ad court (left)	Receiver wins the game, or back to deuce

Deuce court and ad court: the sides are named after the score

Facing the net, the right half of your side is the deuce court and the left half is the ad court. Those names aren't decoration — they describe which score gets played there.

Serving alternates. The first point of every game is played from the deuce court into the receiver's deuce court, the second from the ad court into the ad court, and so on down the game. An even number of points played means the next serve comes from the right; an odd number means the left.

Run that against the loop. Deuce always arrives at an even point total — 6, 8, 10, 12 — so deuce is always served from the deuce court. Advantage always sits at an odd total, so it's always served from the ad court, however long the game runs.

The consequence: under advantage scoring, the point that ends a deuce game is always played from the ad court. If a returner's weak wing lives on that side, it gets asked the same question at the end of every long game.

No-ad scoring: one point instead of the loop

No-ad scoring deletes the loop. At 40-40 the game is settled by a single deciding point — sudden death — so no game can run past seven points. The ITF lists it among its approved alternative scoring procedures, which makes it a real rule variant, not a house custom.

The receiving side chooses which half of the court to take the deciding point in. In doubles that choice also picks the receiver, since the partners can't swap positions for the point. Under the ITF's procedure, mixed doubles plays the deciding point same-gender, so the server serves to the opponent of their own gender.

Where you'll actually run into it in the US:

• College tennis. No-ad is standard through NCAA and ITA dual-match play, singles and doubles — a format built to finish on a clock.
• Tour-level doubles. ATP and WTA doubles play a deciding point at deuce. The Grand Slams have kept advantage scoring in men's and women's doubles, which is why a Slam doubles match can produce games a tour event structurally can't.
• USTA League. The national regulations permit no-ad, but whether your league uses it is a section or local-league decision. Check your local regs.
• Junior and team formats. Plenty of junior draws and team-tennis-style events use it to keep matches on a schedule.

Coming from advantage scoring, the adjustment isn't the math — it's that every 40-40 is now a point you can't get back.

FAQ

What comes after deuce in tennis?

Advantage. The player or team that wins the point at deuce holds the advantage and needs one more point to take the game. Lose that next point and the score returns to deuce, and the sequence starts over.

What is ad in tennis?

"Ad" is short for advantage — a one-point lead held from deuce. Ad-in means the server has it; ad-out means the receiver has it, and the call is always made from the server's perspective. Advantage in tennis is never more than one point deep.

Can the score go past advantage?

No. From advantage there are exactly two outcomes: game, or deuce. There's no second level of advantage, and nothing carries over into the next deuce.

How many times can one game go to deuce?

Under advantage scoring there's no limit. The game continues until one side wins two consecutive points, so a single game can cycle through deuce many times. No-ad scoring is the variant that caps it, with one deciding point at 40-40.

Which side do you serve from at deuce?

The deuce court — the right half as you face the net. Deuce always occurs after an even number of points, and serving alternates starting from the right, so the math always lands there. Advantage is played from the ad court on the left.