Why score in tennis

This is especially true when it comes to the tennis scoring system, which follows a very interesting progression — 0, 15, 30, and Two theories aim to explain why tennis is scored 15, 30, The second theory credits the fact that clocks were used to keep track of the score, and each point advanced the minute hand to 15, 30, and 40 — until a game was finally won.

Both of these theories go back to the time tennis was invented, the late s in France. Both of them seem to make sense, and yet only one of them must be right. The first theory explaining the origin of why tennis is scored 15, 30, and 40 claims that these numbers come from the antecessor of tennis, a game called jeu de paume.

This game originated in France in the s, and it is played indoors. As time went on, players started wearing gloves, then some sort of bat, and eventually began using rackets. While jeu de paume is not a popular sport nowadays, it was certainly popular a century ago.

Most people believe the rules of this game were the rules upon which modern tennis was built — and this is why tennis is scored the way it is. Advocates of this theory claim that, at some point, jeu de paume was playing in courts that measured 90 feet in length — which means that each side measured 45 feet.

A player would start the game behind the line, and the rules would allow the player to move 15 feet closer to the net if he or she won a point. Etymologists aren't exactly sure how love came to mean "zero," but, as we said, there are theories.

As for the point system, we're still scratching our heads about the random 40; 15 to 30 begins a pattern that 40 doesn't follow. The first theory like tennis' point system doesn't add up; however, it is a popular one and it makes for an attractive story.

English players mispronouncing the French word supposedly influenced the change to love , and the rest is history, so to speak. This theory seems cooked. Another, and far more accepted, theory is that this sense of love comes from the expression "to play for love.

In other words, playing on the court, challenging yourself, is the reason for still playing despite having the score of love. And to players of tennis, the sport can be truly a " labor of love ," an expression which implies an undertaking performed out of love for the work itself without consideration of benefit or reward.

A similar idea is found in the origin of the word amateur , which can refer to a person who does something strictly for love; the word comes from the Latin word amare , meaning "to love. Win or lose, written records of playing a game "for love" date to the s and early use is in card games.

In , for example, Edmond Hoyle , an 18th-century writer on British card games, recommends for the game of whist : "If your Adversary is 6 or 7 Love, and you are to lead, your Business in that Case is to risk a Trick or two, in hopes of putting your Game upon an Equality. We're calling that such earlier use breaks the "egg" theory but doesn't give points to the "for love" theory either; it only gives an idea of when love was first used in writing to mean "nothing" in sports and games.

The physical act of playing out something to its end, for love or another emotion, has been experienced long before the invention of cards and rackets. It's only human to do so, and it seems that human nature might have compelled people to express their zero as love. Love , after all, even when it means "nothing," makes everyone feel better.

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. Open live scores. 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 , and Player B won the second set by two games.

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.

If the opposing player scores the next point, the game once again heads to deuce. 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 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 , a tiebreak game is played to determine a winner of the set, resulting in a set score.