Tennis score
A tennis match usually comprises one to five sets. The winner of a specified number of sets (typically two or three) wins the match. A set consists of a number of games (typically six), which in turn consist of points.
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Scoring each game
A game consists of a sequence of points played with the same player serving, and is won by the first player to have won at least four points and at least two points more than their opponent. The half of the court used for service alternates between sides, beginning with the right-hand half, known as the deuce court. (The left-hand side is known as the ad court.)
As simple as this scoring appears, the running score of each game is described in a manner peculiar to tennis: scores of zero to three points are described as "love" (or "zero"), "fifteen", "thirty", and "forty", respectively. When stating the score, the server's score is stated first. Thus, for example, the phrase "thirty-love" means that the server has won two points and the receiver none.
If each player has won three points, the score is described as "deuce" rather than "forty-all". From this point on, whenever the score is tied, it is described as "deuce" (or "40-40") regardless of how many points have been won. When a player is one point ahead, that player is said to have the advantage. If the player with advantage loses the next point, the score is again deuce, since the score is tied. If the player with advantage wins the next point, that player has won the game, since the player now leads by two.
Note that a score of "thirty-all" is functionally equivalent to "deuce", and "forty-thirty" is equivalent to "advantage". These equivalences are not customarily used in describing the score: "thirty-all" means that the players have won exactly two points each, and "deuce" means that the players have won at least three points each.
The current point score is announced verbally before each point by the umpire, or by the server if there is no umpire.
Scoring a set
A set consists of a sequence of games played with service alternating between games, ending when the count of games won meets certain criteria. The players also swap ends of the 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 written using digits separated by a dash. The score is announced by the umpire or server at the start of each game.
In doubles, service alternates between the teams. One player serves for an entire service game, with that player's partner serving for the entirety of the team's next service game. In addition, players of the receiving team receive the serve on alternating points.
Traditionally, the set is won by the first player to have won at least six games and at least two games more than his or her opponent. More commonly, when the score is tied at 6-6 (each player having won six games), a special tiebreaker game is played. The winner of the tiebreak wins the set by a score of 7-6. The tiebreaker is very often not employed for the final set of a match, so that the deciding set must be played until one player or team has won two more games than the opponent.
In a tiebreaker game, points are counted using ordinary numbering, with zero read as "zero", and the game is won by the first player to have won at least seven points and at least two points more than his or her opponent. In the tie-breaker game, the first point is served by the player who would have served the next service game, had service games continued as normal. That player serves a single point from the deuce court. The opponent then serves the next two points starting from the ad court. Service alternates after every two points, and players/teams change sides of the court after every six points.
Scoring the match
Most matches consist of an odd number of sets, the match winner being the player that wins more than half of the sets. The match ends as soon as this winning condition is met. Men's singles matches may consist of five sets (the winner being the first to win three sets), while most matches are three sets (the winner being the first to win two sets).
The alternation of service and end of court between games continues throughout the match without regard to sets. A tie-breaker game is treated as a single game for the purposes of this alternation.
The score of a complete match may be given simply by sets won, or with the scores of each set given separately. In either case, the match winner's score is stated first. In the former, shorter form, a match might be listed as 3-1 (i.e. three sets to one). In the latter form, this same match might be further described as "7-5 6-7 (4) 6-4 7-6 (6)". This match was won three sets to one, with the match loser winning the second set on a tie-breaker. The numbers in parentheses, normally included in printed scorelines but omitted when spoken, indicate the duration of the tiebreaker following a given set, and specify the number of points that the loser of the tiebreaker won. Here, the match winner lost the second-set tiebreaker 7-4, and won the fourth-set tiebreaker 8-6.