Tennis Scoring
Tennis matches are composed of
sets with the winner of a pre-determined number of sets
(normally two or three) becoming the winner of the match. A set
contains games and games contain points. Therefore you need to
win points to win the game, games to win the set and sets to
win the match.
Each game consists of points with
the same player serving for every point. The game is won by the
first player to win at least four points as long as they have
at least two points more than their opponent. The server will
alternate between sides after each point. They begin serving on
the right-hand half (known as the deuce court) and then
alternate to the left-hand side (known as the advantage
court).
While this scoring method may
sound simple, the running score of each game is described in a
way unique to tennis. Scores of zero are said as “love”, scores
of one are said as “fifteen”, scores of two are said as
“thirty” and scores of three are said as “forty”. The origins
of these terms are thought to have French & medieval roots.
Once possibility is that a clock-face was used on court and
scorers used a quarter move of the clock hand to indicate a
score of fifteen, thirty and forty five. Once the hand had
moved to the sixty position, the game was then over. Another
theory is that the system of scoring was copied from a game
called sphairistike. Sphairistike was a game played by British
officers during the 19th century in India.
Sphairistike’s scoring system was based on the different gun
calibers of the naval ships. When these ships fired a salute
they would first fire their 15 pound guns, then the 30 pound
guns and lastly the 40 pound guns.
Exactly how the term “love” for
zero originated is also unclear. However it is a possibility
that it derives from l‘oeuf, the French word for egg. This is
because the shape of an egg looks like the same shape as the
number zero. “Love” is also thought to have originated from
"l'heure" meaning “the hour” in French. Yet another possible
origin comes from the Dutch "iets voor lof doen," which means
“to do something for nothing”. The word ‘lof’ (nothing) has
changed in pronunciation over time to ‘love’.
In the case where both players
win three points in the game (they are 40 all), the score is
described as “deuce”. From this point on whenever the score is
tied it is described as deuce, no matter how many points have
been played. The player who wins the point after deuce is then
said to have the “advantage”. If the player with advantage
loses the next point the score then reverts back to deuce
because the score is once again tied. If the player who has the
advantage point wins the next point then they win the game as
they now lead by two points.
Note that as far as functionality
is concerned a score of “thirty-all” is the same as “deuce” and
“forty-thirty” is equivalent to “advantage”. However this is
only an equivalence and is not the correct stated scoring
terms. A score of “thirty-all” means that both players have won
exactly two points each whereas a score of “deuce” means that
the players have won at least three points each.
The current point score is
verbally announced before each point by the umpire, or in the
case where there is no umpire, the server. When the score is
stated the server’s score is announced first. For example: if
the score is announced as “thirty-love” this would mean that
the server has won two points and the receiver none.
Scoring a Set
A set consists of a sequence of
games that are played with the service alternating between
players at the end of each game. The set ends when the count of
games won meets a certain pre-determined number (usually six as
long as the player is two or more ahead of the opposing
player). The players also swap ends of the tennis court after
each odd numbered game. The score of games within a set is
counted in the ordinary manner except that a score of zero
games is read as “love”. The score is also written using digits
that are separated by a dash. The score is announced at the
start of each game by the umpire or server.
In a game of doubles tennis the
serve alternates between the teams. Player 1 on Team A serves
for an entire service game, Player 1 on Team B serves for the
next service game, Player 2 on Team A serves the next service
game, Player 2 on Team B serves the next service game and then
the process is repeated until the completion of the set. As
well as this the players of the receiving team receive the
service on alternating points.
The first player to win at least
six games, while also having won two more games then their
opponent, wins the set. Traditionally sets would continue to be
played until both these criteria were met with an unlimited
amount of maximum games. However to shorten matches a tie-break
system was created by James Van Alen which was widely
introduced in the 1970’s. If the score reaches 6-5, one more
game is played. If the leading player wins this game then he
wins the set 7-5. However if the trailing player wins the game
the score is then tied at 6-6 and a tiebreaker game is now
played. The player to win the tie-break wins the set 7-6.
Sometimes the tie-breaker is not used for the final set of a
major match so that the deciding set must be played until one
player or team has won two more games than the opponent. This
is the case in three of the four major tennis grand slams. The
only one that does not use this method is the US Open where a
tie-break is played even in the deciding set (fifth set for
men, third set for women). The traditional method is used for
the final set of all other majors: the Australian Open, the
French Open (Roland Garros) and Wimbledon.
Scoring System for a Tie-Break
Game
At the score of 6-6 a set is
normally decided by one more game called a “seven point
tie-break”. Points are counted using ordinary numbering. The
set is decided by the player that wins at least seven points during the tie-break as
well as being more than two points ahead of their
opponent. Example: If the score in the tie-break is 6
points to 5 and the player with 6 points wins the next
point they win the tie-break and also the set. However if
the player that had 5 points wins the point then the
tie-break continues and will not be won on the next point.
This is because none of the players will be two points
ahead of their opponent. Because only one more game (the
tie-break) is played to decide the winner of the set this
means the score of the set is always 7-6 (or 6-7).
Sometimes the scorers will also list the tie-break score
eg. 7-6 (7-4). This would mean the seventh game of the set
was won through a tie-break with the winner scoring seven
points and the loser scoring four. The tie-break score is
sometimes listed another way also to just list the loser’s
points eg. if the score is listed as 7-6- (8) this would
mean the tie-break score was 10-8. We know this because we
are told the loser’s point is listed as 8 and the winner
must always win by two points (except if the loser scores
only four points or less).
The player that would normally be
serving after 6-6 is the one that will begin the serve in the
tie-break. Therefore the tie-break is considered as a service
game for this player. The server serves one point and then the
serve changes after the first point is scored. Each player then
serves for two consecutive points for the rest of the
tie-break. Furthermore, the first of each two point service
begins from the server’s advantage court and ends in the deuce
court. The players switch ends of the court after every six
points. At the completion of the tie-break players swap sides
of the court again.
There is also an alternative
style tie-break system which is called the Conan. This is
sometimes used by the United States Tennis Association. Scoring
is done the same but end changes take place after the first
game and then after every four games. This approach allows the
servers to continue serving from the same end of the court as
during the body of the set.
Scoring The Match
Most tennis matches consist of an
odd number of sets with the match being won by the player who
wins more than half of the sets. As soon as the winning
condition is met the match ends and a winner is determined.
Men’s singles matches normally consist of a maximum five sets
(with the winner being the first player to win three sets)
while most women’s matches consist of a maximum three sets
(with the winner being the first player to win two sets).
While the alternation of service
between games continues throughout the match without regard to
sets, the ends are changed after each odd game within a set
including the last game. If for example the second set of a
match ends with the score at 6-3, 1-6 then the ends are changed
because the last game played was the seventh game of the set
which was odd despite it being the sixteenth (even) game of the
match. Therefore in situations where a set ends with an odd
game, back to back games see the change of ends (ends are
changed before and after the first game of the following set).
For the purposes of this alternation a tie-breaker game is
treated as a single game. There is always a court change after
the tie-breaker because they result in a score of 7-6 (or
another odd score).
The score reported for a
completed match is normally given simply by sets won or with
the scores of each set given separately. The match winner’s
score is always stated first in either case. In the shorter
score form a match might be listed as 3-2 (three sets to two).
In the longer form this same match might be reported as 6-2 6-7
(2) 7-5 4-6 6-4. This match was won by three sets to two with
the match loser winning the second set on a tie-breaker. The
number in brackets (normally included in print but excluded
when spoken) specify the number of points the loser of the
tie-breaker won. In this example the match winner lost the
tie-break 7-2.
Total Points Scored
The fact that tennis is scored
game-by-game, set-by-set can sometimes lead to the surprising
fact that a player may lose a match despite winning the
majority of points or games played in that match.
Resources:
"Tennis score." Wikipedia, The Free
Encyclopedia. 9 Jul 2008, 03:36 UTC. Wikimedia
Foundation, Inc. 10 Jul 2008
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