Tennis Rules: How Scoring Works

Most people know tennis scoring, and plenty of them still wonder about it. Why 15, 30, 40 instead of 1, 2, 3? What exactly is deuce? When does a tiebreak happen? Everything below comes from the 2026 Rules of Tennis of the International Tennis Federation (ITF), which you can read in full on the ITF website.

Points and games

Points are called love (0), 15, 30, 40, game. The server's score is always called first.

When both players have three points, it is deuce. From deuce you need two points in a row. The first gives you advantage, the second wins the game. Lose the advantage point and you are back at deuce.

Sets and the match

The first player to six games with a two-game lead wins the set. At 6-6 you play a tiebreak. The organiser has to announce in advance which type of set is being played, though. Besides the tiebreak set there is the advantage set, with no tiebreak at all: you keep going until someone leads by two games. The organiser also has to choose the method for the final set.

A match is best of three sets (first to two) or best of five (first to three).

Tiebreak

In a tiebreak the points are counted zero, 1, 2, 3 and so on. The first player to seven points with a two-point lead wins it. If the margin is only one, you keep playing until someone leads by two.

The serve rotates like this: the first server plays one point, the opponent then serves two, and from there you swap every two points. You change ends every six points. Whoever served first in the tiebreak receives first in the next set.

Match tiebreak to 10 and No-Ad

The ITF standard is the advantage game and a tiebreak to seven at 6-6. Appendix VI approves a few alternatives that you will meet in some formats:

• Match tiebreak to 10: at one set all (two sets all in a best-of-five match), a tiebreak to 10 points with a two-point lead replaces the deciding set. There is a 120-second break before it.
• No-Ad: at deuce you play one deciding point. The receiver picks the side, and in mixed doubles the receiver is the player of the same sex as the server.

These are not the default rules.

Serve and changing ends

The server stands behind the baseline, between the imaginary extensions of the centre mark and the sideline. You serve the first point from the right half of the court, diagonally, and switch halves on every point after that. After a fault you get a second serve; two faults in a row is a double fault and you lose the point. The serve changes hands after every game. You change ends after the first game, after the third and then after every odd game.

Disputed situations

• Foot fault. While serving you must not walk or run, and you must not step on the baseline or into the court. Both feet may leave the ground, though.
• Ball on the line. If the ball touches any part of a line, it is good.
• Touching the net. A serve that clips the net and is otherwise good is a let and gets replayed. In a rally, a ball that brushes the net and lands in is good. If you touch the net yourself, with your racket or clothing, you lose the point.
• The ball comes back over the net. You may reach over and play it, as long as you touch neither the net nor your opponent's side.
• Hindrance. A deliberate hindrance gives the point to the player who was hindered. An unintentional hindrance, or something outside the players' control (a ball from the next court, say), means the point is replayed.