For the love of tennis

Game, set, or match? The scoring system used in tennis is one of the most complex aspects of an otherwise relatively simple sport.

 Whether played on reddish sandy courts in Paris, beneath the blazing Australian sun, or on a breezy autumn day in New York, modern tennis tournaments involve players competing in a series of elimination matches.

In addition to hefty sums of prize money (a record high of $3.85M for the US Open in 2019), tennis players can win points, games, sets, and matches. The referee awards a point to the player who returns a ball that the opponent cannot reach or when the opponent hits the ball into the net or outside the court's boundaries. Scoring for points is sequential: 0 (spoken as “love” in English), 15, 30, and 40. This whole sequence is known as a “game”. Modern tennis requires patience and determination, as games can only be won by a two-point margin. Famously, John Isner and Nicolas Mahut played for over 11 hours across three days in the first round of the 2010 Wimbledon tournament. Wimbledon also recorded maximum sales of Pimm’s, strawberries, and cream on that same day.

 A set consists of up to seven games. Again, players must conclude the game with a two-point advantage; otherwise, a tie-break will be played, which employs a combination of the point and game scoring systems. Finally, men who win three sets or women who win two sets are declared the match-winners.