Tennis scoring rules, from the first point to match point

Tennis scoring rules stack four levels: points make a game, games make a set, sets make a match. Points run love, 15, 30, 40, game, and 40-40 is deuce. Six games with a two-game lead win a set, and two sets usually win the match.

Tennis scoring rules in four levels

The tennis scoring system nests. You win points to take a game, games to take a set, sets to take the match. Each level ends on its own terms — a game and a set both need a margin, a match only needs the set count — and that difference is where the confusion starts.

Points: love, 15, 30, 40, game

Zero is called love. From there a player's points run 15, 30, 40, then game. The numbers are labels, not values — the fourth point of a game wins it, as long as the opponent sits on 30 or fewer.

• 0 = love
• 1 point = 15
• 2 points = 30
• 3 points = 40
• 4 points = game, if you're two clear

When both players reach 40, the score is deuce, not 40-all. From deuce someone has to win two points in a row. Win one and you have advantage — "ad in" when the server holds it, "ad out" when the receiver does. Lose the next point and the score drops back to deuce. That loop has no cap; one game can run a dozen deuces.

Many leagues, most tour doubles, and plenty of club formats use no-ad scoring instead: at deuce, the next point decides the game. On that deciding point the receiver picks which side to receive from, and in mixed doubles the point is played gender to gender. Ask which version you're playing before the first serve, because it changes how you handle every 40-40.

Games and sets: six games, win by two

One player serves an entire game, then the other takes the next — serve alternates game by game and never mid-game. Players change ends after the first game and after every odd-numbered game that follows (3, 5, 7 …), plus at the end of a set, unless that set contained an even number of games, in which case the change waits until after the first game of the next set.

A set goes to the first player to win six games with a two-game lead. Everything from 6-0 to 6-4 ends it; 5-5 has to be pushed to 7-5. At 6-6 nearly every modern format plays a tiebreak: first to 7 points, win by 2, counted in plain numbers ("three–two", never "thirty–fifteen"). Whoever is due to serve serves the first point, then the serve changes every two points, and the players change ends every six points. A set won in a tiebreak is written 7-6 — the one place a set ends on a one-game margin.

Shortened formats exist, so agree on one before you start: short sets to 4 games, Fast4, or a pro set to 8 or 10 games.

Sets and match: best of three or best of five

Most tennis is best of three sets, so first to two. Men's singles at the four Grand Slams is best of five. Deciding sets vary more than any other part of the rules:

• Grand Slams: a 10-point tiebreak at 6-6 in the final set, the same at all four majors since 2022.
• ATP and WTA tour events: a standard 7-point tiebreak at 6-6 in the final set.
• Most tour doubles and many recreational formats: a 10-point match tiebreak replaces the third set entirely.
• Some team and club competitions: an advantage final set with no tiebreak at all.

Match scores are written set by set from the winner's side, so 6-4, 6-3 means the winner took the first set 6-4 and the second 6-3.

The tennis score explained: a worked match from 0-0 to 6-4, 6-3

Start the match serving. Here is how to score tennis one call at a time.

Game 1, your serve. Love all → you win the point, 15-love → they win it, 15-all → they take another, 15-30 → you win, 30-all → you win, 40-30 → they win, deuce → you win, advantage (ad in) → they win, deuce again → you win, ad in → you win, game. Score: 1-0, and you change ends.

Games 2 through 9. Everybody holds serve. The game score at the start of those games reads 1-0, 1-1, 2-1, 2-2, 3-2, 3-3, 4-3, 4-4 — and once you hold for 5-4, your opponent serves at 4-5 to stay in the set.

Game 10. You break — win a game on their serve — and the set is yours at 6-4, two games clear. First set to you: "one set to love."

Second set. The serve keeps alternating across the set break, so you open serving. You hold, they hold for 1-1, you hold for 2-1, you break for 3-1, hold for 4-1, they hold for 4-2, you hold for 5-2, they hold for 5-3, and you serve out at 6-3.

Final score: 6-4, 6-3. Two sets to love.

Who calls the score, and why the server's number comes first

In a match without an official, the server calls the score — the game score at the start of each game, the point score before every subsequent point, loud enough to carry to the other baseline. USTA's The Code, the guide for unofficiated matches, puts that duty on the server, and saying it out loud every time prevents most disputes before they start.

The server's score always comes first. "Thirty–fifteen" from the server means the server leads. The identical call from the other player, on their own serve, means they lead. Reverse the order and you've announced a different score, which is how a game ends up replayed.

When you do disagree mid-game, go back to the last score you both agree on and play from there. How to keep score in tennis without arguing comes down to that habit plus something neutral to check against. Tennis Scoreboard is a tennis scoreboard app for iPhone and Apple Watch that tracks match scores, so the running score sits on your wrist instead of in two memories that have started to drift apart.

Three things new players get wrong

Tennis scorekeeping breaks down in the same three places.

Saying the score backwards. New players call their own score first out of habit. It's the server's score first, every time, whether or not the server is ahead.

Forgetting the two-game margin. 6-5 is not a set. Of all the tennis rules for beginners, this one costs the most premature handshakes — at 6-5 you play on, and if it reaches 6-6 you play the tiebreak.

Calling 40-40 "forty all." The score is deuce. Both get understood on a public court, but deuce is the rules term, and under no-ad scoring it also tells everyone the next point ends the game.

Every game score and what to call it

Server's score first in every row.

Score	Called out loud
0-0	Love all
15-0	Fifteen–love
0-15	Love–fifteen
15-15	Fifteen all
30-0	Thirty–love
0-30	Love–thirty
30-15	Thirty–fifteen
15-30	Fifteen–thirty
40-0	Forty–love
0-40	Love–forty
40-15	Forty–fifteen
15-40	Fifteen–forty
30-30	Thirty all
40-30	Forty–thirty
30-40	Thirty–forty
40-40	Deuce
Server ahead from deuce	Advantage server, or "ad in"
Receiver ahead from deuce	Advantage receiver, or "ad out"

Tied scores take "all" up to 30; at 40 they take deuce instead. Anything past deuce is advantage — never 45, never 50.

FAQ

What are the tennis scoring rules in order?

Points come first: love, 15, 30, 40, game, with two points clear required from 40-40 under advantage scoring. Four points win a game, six games with a two-game lead win a set, and two sets win the match — three in men's Grand Slam singles.

Why does tennis count 15, 30, 40?

There's no settled answer. The usual explanation is a clock face marked in quarters, with 45 shortened to 40 because it's quicker to say, but the origin isn't documented well enough to state as fact. At this point the sequence is simply convention.

What happens at 40-40 in tennis?

It's called deuce. Under advantage scoring one player must win two points in a row — the first gives advantage, the second gives the game, and a lost point returns the score to deuce. Under no-ad scoring, the very next point wins the game.

Can a tennis set end 6-5?

No. A set needs a two-game margin, so 6-5 continues to either 7-5 or 6-6, and 6-6 goes to a tiebreak in nearly every format played today.

Who calls the score when there's no umpire?

The server does. Announce the game score at the start of the game and the point score before each subsequent point, always with the server's score first.