Tennis scoring explained: points, games, sets and tie-breaks
A tennis match is built in three layers: points make a game, games make a set, and sets make the match. A game runs love, 15, 30, 40, game, and has to be won by two clear points. A set goes to the first player with six games and a two-game lead, with a tie-break at 6–6. The match is best of three sets almost everywhere; only men's singles at the four Grand Slams is best of five. Everything below follows the ITF Rules of Tennis and the ATP and WTA rulebooks for 2026.
Points: love, 15, 30, 40
The server's score is always called first, so "30–40" means the receiver is one point from the game.
| Points won | Call |
|---|---|
| 0 | Love |
| 1 | 15 |
| 2 | 30 |
| 3 | 40 |
| 4 | Game, if the opponent has two or fewer |
| 3 each | Deuce |
| Next point after deuce | Advantage |
| Advantage, then one more point | Game |
At deuce a player needs two points in a row. Win the first and it is advantage; lose the next and the score returns to deuce. There is no limit to how often that can happen, which is why one game can last longer than a whole set on another court.
No-ad scoring
The rules also allow a shorter version called no-ad. At deuce a single deciding point is played, and the receiving side chooses whether to take the serve from the right or the left half of the court. In mixed doubles the player of the same gender as the server receives it. No-ad is the standard format for doubles on the ATP Tour and the WTA Tour. In singles on those tours, and in singles and doubles at the Grand Slams, games are played with normal advantage scoring.
Games and sets
The first player to win six games takes the set, provided the lead is at least two games: 6–4 is a set, 6–5 is not. From 5–5 a set can end 7–5; if it reaches 6–6, a tie-break decides it and the set goes on the board as 7–6.
Players swap ends after the first, third, fifth game and so on in every set, and the serve passes to the other player after each game.
The tie-break
A tie-break is one special game counted in plain numbers: 1, 2, 3 rather than 15, 30, 40. The first player to seven points wins it, and with it the set, as long as the margin is two points. At 6–6 it simply continues: 8–6, 9–7, 12–10.
The serving order is fixed:
- The player whose turn it is to serve hits the first point only.
- The opponent then serves the next two points.
- After that the players alternate every two points until the end.
Ends are changed after every six points, for instance at 4–2 or 6–6. The player who served first in the tie-break receives in the opening game of the next set.
The match tie-break to ten
A match tie-break is a longer tie-break, first to ten points with a two-point margin, that replaces the whole deciding set. On the ATP and WTA tours every doubles match works this way: two sets with no-ad games and, at one set all, a match tie-break instead of a third set. In results it usually appears as a third set, for example 4–6, 6–3, 10–4.
Do not confuse it with the final-set tie-break at the Grand Slams. There the deciding set is played in full, and only at 6–6 is a tie-break to ten used to finish it.
Best of three or best of five
Best of three means two sets win the match; best of five means three. Singles matches on the ATP and WTA tours are best of three tie-break sets, so a normal seven-point tie-break is played at 6–6 in every set, including the last one. Men's singles at the Australian Open, Roland-Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open is best of five. Women's singles and the men's and women's doubles there are best of three.
The final-set rule, event by event
All four Grand Slams now end a deciding set the same way: at 6–6, a tie-break to ten points with a two-point margin. The Australian Open has used it since 2019, and the other three joined from Roland-Garros 2022, when the Grand Slam Board announced a common rule. Before that, each major finished its last set differently.
| Event | Match length | How the deciding set ends |
|---|---|---|
| Grand Slam men's singles | Best of five | 10-point tie-break at 6–6 |
| Grand Slam women's singles | Best of three | 10-point tie-break at 6–6 |
| Grand Slam men's and women's doubles | Best of three | 10-point tie-break at 6–6 |
| Mixed doubles, Australian Open and Roland-Garros | Best of three | 10-point match tie-break replaces the third set |
| Mixed doubles, Wimbledon | Best of three | Full third set, 10-point tie-break at 6–6 |
| ATP and WTA singles | Best of three | Normal 7-point tie-break at 6–6 |
| ATP and WTA doubles | Two sets, no-ad | 10-point match tie-break at one set all |
How to read a live tennis score
On the tennis live scores page each match takes two rows, one per player or pair, and the columns read from left to right:
- Set columns. One column for every set, completed or in progress. 6–3, 4–6, 2–1 means one set all with the third under way.
- Current game. The points of the game being played: 0, 15, 30, 40 or A for advantage. During a tie-break this shows plain numbers.
- The small raised number. A set written 7–6 with a small 5 beside it was decided by a tie-break in which the loser won five points, so 7–5. If the small number is 8, the tie-break ended 10–8.
- Serve marker. A dot or ball symbol next to the name of the player serving at that moment.
Matches in play are collected under all live matches right now, and finished ones from the day before are on the yesterday's results page. If you wonder why a number changes a moment after the point is over, how live scores reach your screen explains the path.
Retirement, walkover and default
Three endings do not come from a match point, and the rulebooks keep them apart:
- Retirement (ret.): the match started, and one player could not finish it because of illness or injury. The score at that moment stays on the board, for example 6–3, 4–0 ret.
- Walkover (w/o): the match never began, because one player was ill or injured or was not permitted to play. No score exists; the opponent advances.
- Default (def.): after the match had begun, the umpiring team removed a player under the Code of Conduct.
How these labels sit next to "postponed", "interrupted" and "finished" is covered in match statuses explained. To be told when a set ends or a match you follow starts, see setting up favourites and notifications.
Frequently asked questions
Why does tennis count 15, 30, 40 instead of 1, 2, 3?
The rules only state the calls; they do not explain where they come from. The names are a tradition the sport has kept, and the rulebook itself uses plain numbers in the tie-break, where points are called 1, 2, 3.
What does 7–6 with a small 4 mean?
The set reached 6–6 and was settled by a tie-break. The small number is the points won by the loser of that tie-break, so here it ended 7–4. When the small number is 6 or higher, the winner finished two points ahead of it.
Can a tennis match end in a draw?
No. Every scoring unit needs a winner: games need two clear points or a deciding point, sets a two-game lead or a tie-break, and tie-breaks a two-point margin. A match can end early, though, through a retirement, a walkover or a default.