One of the most difficult parts of tennis comes from the way it’s scored. Tennis is known for its unique scoring system, which can be difficult to parse out if you’re a beginner. If you’re stuck scratching your head at matches, maybe it’s time to figure out just how to keep track of how well you’re doing on the court.

Game, Set, Match

To begin, you’ll need to know how tennis is broken up. Each game is concluded when a player reaches 4 points. A player must win six games to win a set. There are usually three to five sets in a match, and whoever wins the highest number of sets will win the match. While the number of sets played is variable, most championship matches are played with five sets.

A Deeper Look

But while you’re playing a game, you still might encounter some unfamiliar terminology. At the beginning, both players’ score is called love– this is merely a placeholder to signify that they both have no points. When the first point is scored, it’s called 15; from that onwards, the second point is 30 and the third point is 40. If a player reaches their fourth point uninhibited, that’s the game, and it doesn’t have a special name.

Ties

If the players tie throughout the game, though, that’s called all. While that’s not the end of the game, it might be very close- if the players tie at 40-40, it becomes what’s known as deuce, and results in players attempting to break the tie. This is done through two points- if one player manages to break the tie, they earn advantage, but they still have to make another shot to win the game. If the opposing player scores a point anywhere during a tie, you start back at deuce.