Tennis scoring and tiebreaks, explained with examples

Points, games and sets

An ordinary game uses love, 15, 30 and 40, with the server’s score called first. Points build games; games build sets. In a best-of-three-set match, two sets win the match.

A games score of 3–2 and a current score of 30–15 do not mean someone earned thirty ordinary points. They describe five completed games and the separate point score inside the current game.

A useful note is “Set 1: 3–2 / current game: 30–15.” Keeping both labels is clearer than a string of numbers, especially when someone else takes over the scorecard.

Follow one deuce sequence

In an advantage game, 40–40 is deuce. From there, one side needs two consecutive points to finish the game.

1. Server wins a point from deuce: advantage server
2. Receiver wins the next point: deuce again
3. Receiver wins again: advantage receiver
4. Receiver wins once more: game to the receiver

The server’s earlier advantage is not stored for later. Think about the two consecutive points after each return to deuce. An event using no-ad scoring uses the alternative described below.

When does the set finish?

In an ordinary tiebreak set, six or more games with a two-game lead wins the set. From 5–5, the set can finish 7–5 or reach 6–6 and a tiebreak. Winning that tiebreak makes the set score 7–6.

• 6–4: finished set
• 6–5: keep playing
• 7–5: finished set
• 6–6: begin the specified set tiebreak

This describes a tiebreak set. Advantage sets and short sets are different formats. Read the competition’s published format rather than assuming every match follows this sequence.

The ordinary seven-point tiebreak

Count tiebreak points as 1, 2, 3 and so on. Win at least seven with a two-point lead: 7–6 continues, while 8–6 finishes.

The next server serves one point; then servers take two points each. With a doubles rotation of A → C → B → D, the sequence is:

• Point 1: A
• Points 2–3: C
• Points 4–5: B
• Points 6–7: D
• Points 8–9: A

Start from the right and alternate serving sides each point. The standard procedure changes ends after every six total points. The team that served first receives in the next set’s opening game. Follow any alternative end-change procedure explicitly adopted by the event.

No-ad and two different ten-point tiebreaks

These are chosen alternatives, not automatic additions to every match.

• No-ad: one deciding point at deuce. Receivers choose the side without swapping receiving positions. Under the ITF mixed-doubles provision, the receiver is the same gender as the server.
• Ten-point match tiebreak: replaces the deciding set.
• Ten-point final-set tiebreak: starts at 6–6 after games have been played in the deciding set.

Both ten-point versions require a two-point margin. Ask when the tiebreak starts, not just whether it is “to ten.” Short-set tiebreak triggers also depend on the announced format.

Keep match scores separate from standings points

For example, “6–3, 4–6, match tiebreak 10–8” means two sets followed by a tiebreak replacing the final set. Treating 10–8 as ten games against eight would change the meaning of the result.

MatchMaker’s three points for a win, one for a draw and zero for a loss are its event-standings method. They are not tennis’s point score or a universal ITF standings rule. Check what an input field expects, and retain the original result when a match tiebreak or interrupted match needs extra explanation.

Before playing, answer four questions: how many sets, what happens at deuce, what happens when games are tied late in a set, and is the deciding set played or replaced? Writing this down is easier than trying to settle competing assumptions after a match.