Tennis Scoring Terminology
- Volleyball Scoring Terminology
- Tennis Scoring Terminology
- Tennis Scoring Terms For Dummies
- Origin Of Tennis Scoring Terminology
- Tennis Scoring Terminology
- What Is The Origin Of Tennis Scoring Terms
After the score has reached 40-all, the winner of the next point will have the advantage, requiring another point to win the game. If the player with advantage loses the next point, the score reverts to 40-all. Alley: The area of court bounded by the singles and doubles sidelines, used in doubles games.
- An expression that is used when the actual score is 40-40. The right side of the tennis court. It is called Deuce-Court because all deuce points are played from this side. A match that ends with the score 6-0 6-0 is often called a double bagel in tennis circles. One of the funniest tennis terms in my opinion.
- No matter if you love to play or just enjoy watching, knowing some essential French tennis terms will make the game a lot more interesting.
- Tennis scoring terms and what they mean Unlike a normal 1 point or 2 runs like any other normal sports, tennis’ first three points are 15, 30 and 40. If you’re looking for a definitive answer on why tennis uses the scoring system it does, unfortunately, there’s no clear origin of tennis scoring system as we see it today.
- If you win the first point, you must announce the score at your next serve: '15–love.' Love is equal to zero, and 15 equals one point. The server - in this case, you - always announces his or her own score first.
Tennis Terms
Ace
A serve that lands inside the lines and is untouched by the opponent
Advantage
The point that follows a deuce score. If the player wins this point he wins the game, otherwise it goes back to deuce!
Ad-Court
The left side of the tennis court. It is called Ad-Court because the ad points are always played from this side.
Approach Shot
A shot that the player follows to the net is called an approach shot
ATP
The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) is the governing body of men’s Tennis!
Backspin
On a shot with backspin the ball rotates backwards. These shots usually stay pretty low
Break
When you win a game during which your opponent was serving that is called a break in Tennis!
Break Point
The receiver is said to have a break point whenever he is in a situation where a point won results in him winning the game off of the server.
Cross-Court
A shot that is hit diagonally into the opponent?s court
Volleyball Scoring Terminology
Deep
A shot that lands very close to the baseline rather than short around the service line
Deuce
An expression that is used when the actual score is 40-40
Deuce-Court
The right side of the tennis court. It is called Deuce-Court because all deuce points are played from this side
Double Bagel
A match that ends with the score 6-0 6-0 is often called a double bagel in tennis circles. One of the funniest tennis terms in my opinion
Double Fault
The server has two serves to start the point. Whenever he misses both he looses one point in the game and this situation is called a double fault.
Doubles
When you have four players on the court and two are playing against two this is called a doubles match.
Down the Line
A shot that is hit straight along the sideline into the opponent?s court
Error
Any shot in Tennis that does not land within the lines that it is supposed to land within is called an error
Foot Fault
The server is not allowed to move over or even touch the baseline during his service motion. If he does so it is a so-called foot-fault and his serve is considered a fault.
Forced Error
When Player 1 hits a really good shot that forces Player 2 to miss that is called a forced error
Groundstroke
Whenever the ball bounces on your side before you hit it that is called a Groundstroke. Forehands, Backhands, and Slice Backhands are all groundstrokes.
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Hold
When you win your service game it is called a hold.
Inside-Out Forehand
Tennis commentators often mention the so-called inside-out forehand. This is a situation where a player hits a forehand, usually from the backhand side of the court, towards the backhand side of his opponent. The ball takes an inside-out swing pattern and therefore the shot is called an inside-out forehand
Kick Serve
A serve hit with lots of topspin. The ball usually jumps high on this kind of shot!
Let
The umpire calls a let whenever a serve touches the net and still lands in the service box. The serve is then replayed
Match Point
When you have match point you only need to win one more point to win and end the entire match.
Mini-Break
If you win a point on your opponents serve during a tiebreak that is called a mini-break
Moonball
A shot hit very high over the net. These are usually defensive shots and many tennis player dislike playing against players that hit moonballs. Just hearing the tennis term “Moonball” can cause some tennis players to get into a bad mood.
Tennis Scoring Terminology
Overhead
When you are at the net and your opponent tries to lob you with a high shot you will hit an overhead.
Singles
Whenever two players play a match against each other in tennis it is called a singles match
Smash
Same thing as an overhead.
Tiebreak
A tiebreak is played when the score in a set reaches 6:6. The tiebreak is played up to 7 points and the idea is to bring the set to an end because without a tiebreak it could take forever
Underspin
This is another expression for backspin. The ball rotates backwards and stays low on these shots
Unforced Error
When Player 1 misses an easy shot that is called an unforced error
Volley
Whenever your hit the ball before it bounces on your side it is called a volley
Wild Card
To get into many tournaments you need to have a certain rankings position. If you do not have that position the tournament officials can award you a wild card. With a wild card young players can often enter pro tournaments that they usually could not enter according to the ranking system
Tennis Scoring Terms For Dummies
So that’s it for the tennis terms explanations. If you think a tennis term is missing then feel free to send me an email and I will include it!
Love? Deuce? Advantage? What does it all mean?
Tennis has long had the most unique way of keeping score, and the origins of the sport’s scoring system is actually fairly ambiguous. So if you’re looking for why exactly tennis scoring is so weird, you might be not be satisfied with the answer, but we’ll try.
Don’t be intimidated by the way tennis score is kept: Tennis scoring is definitely unorthodox, but it’s actually quite simple when you break it down piece by piece and point by point.
MORE: Follow the 2020 U.S. Open live scores
How does tennis scoring work?
Origin Of Tennis Scoring Terminology
Tennis matches work in three phases: A game, a set and a match.
A game is played until a player scores four points, of which a player can earn in a number of different ways (more on that below).
A set is collection of games, played until a player wins six games (or more).
A match is played to a best-of-three or five sets. Usually, championship matches are played to five sets.
In this example, Player A won the match, winning by a score of 6-4, 5-7 and 6-1. Player B won the second set by two games.
Scoring a game
A game is won when a player scores four (or more) points: 15, 30, 40 and the game-winning point.
Should both players make it 40, then the score is called “deuce.” Following deuce, a player must win two consecutive points: the first point, known as “advantage” and the game-winning point. If the opposing player scores the next point, the game once again heads to deuce.
- 0 points = Love
- 1 point = 15
- 2 points = 30
- 3 points = 40
- Tied score = All
- 40-40 = Deuce
- Server wins deuce point = Ad-In
- Receiver wins deuce point = Ad-Out
Scoring a set
A player must win at least six games to win a set. A player must also win by two games in order to win the set. So if a game is played to a 6-5 score in the set, then the leading player must win a seventh game in order to win the set.
Rules are a little different for a tiebreak set. If a set should make it to 6-6, a tiebreak game is played to determine a winner of the set, resulting in a 7-6 set score. Rather than use traditional tennis scoring, this is scored one, two, three and so forth. The first player to win seven points, by two, wins the tiebreak game, and the set. There are different point totals for different tournaments, however.
Scoring the match
A match is completed (usually best of three or best of five) when a player reaches six sets and wins by at least two sets.
| Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Player A | 6 | 5 | 6 |
| Player B | 4 | 7 | 1 |
Tennis Scoring Terminology
In this example, Player A won the match by a score of 6-4, 5-7 and 6-1. Player B won the second set 7 to 5, reaching the sixth game first but having to win by two games.
Tennis scoring rules
There are multiple ways a point can be scored. Among them:
- An unreturnable ball (ball bounces twice);
- Double fault;
- Ace (unreturnable serve);
- Ball hit out of bounds (the lines count as in);
- Ball hit into the net.
Tennis scoring terms and what they mean
Unlike a normal 1 point or 2 runs like any other normal sports, tennis’ first three points are 15, 30 and 40.
What Is The Origin Of Tennis Scoring Terms
If you’re looking for a definitive answer on why tennis uses the scoring system it does, unfortunately, there’s no clear origin of tennis scoring system as we see it today. However, there are a few different theories:
— Tennis scoring was “originally” kept on clock faces, with hands being placed at 15, 30 and 45 minute marks to keep score. The 45-minute mark was dialed back to 40 to account for advantage, with the game ending at 60. Though, minute hands weren’t added to clocks until the 17th century, so this is more of a theory or urban legend rather than truth.
— The numerical values are attached to a French game, jeu de paume, similar to tennis but played with a hand instead of a racket. The serving player would allowed to be move up 15 feet per point scored, up to 45. The game was played on a 90-foot court. Jeu de paume eventually gave way to tennis as we know it now.
— The same can be said for the use of “love”: There’s no definitive answer, but it likely comes from the phrase “l’oeuf,” which is French for “the egg.” If you have never seen an egg, it resembles a 0.
Tennis score after a deuce
If both players reach 40, this is known as deuce (not 40-all). A player has to score two consecutive points to win the game following deuce. The first point scored after deuce is known as “advantage.” Once a player scores advantage, their next point wins. If that player loses the point, then the score reverts to deuce.
“Advantage in” is the server’s point, while “advantage out” is the player receiving the serve.
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