Tennis scoring explained: 15, 30, 40, deuce, and tie-breaks

Tennis has four levels of scoring: points, games, sets, and the match. Within a game, the point sequence is love (zero), 15, 30, and 40.

Deuce and advantage

At 40–40, the score is deuce. Winning the next point gives a player advantage; winning another point wins the game. If the player with advantage loses the next point, the score returns to deuce.

Sets and tie-breaks

A common set format requires six games and a two-game lead. Many events play a tie-break at 6–6; check the event rules. A typical tie-break uses ordinary numbers and is won at seven points with a two-point lead.

Read the four scoring levels together

A result written as 6–4, 3–6, 7–6 describes three sets, not three rallies. A wins the first set, B the second, and A the third, so A wins the match two sets to one. The labels 15, 30, and 40 belong to ordinary-game score calling; a rally does not award fifteen numerical points. Tie-breaks instead count points directly as one, two, three, and so on. Keeping game and set rows visible prevents a reset at the wrong level.

Deuce, advantage, and the no-ad alternative

Call the server’s score first: if server A has won two points and B one, the call is 30–15. At 40–40, an A point gives A advantage; a B point then restores deuce. A game ends only when the player with advantage wins the following point. Some doubles and local events announce no-ad scoring, where the point after deuce decides the game and the receiving court is selected under that procedure. Treat no-ad as an explicitly chosen format, not as the default for every match.

Tie-break service: one point first, then two each

1. The player due to serve, A, serves point one.
2. B serves points two and three; A serves four and five; B serves six and seven, continuing in pairs.
3. In a standard tie-break, change ends after every six points without resetting points. An event may announce an alternative procedure.
4. At 6–6 in an ordinary seven-point tie-break, continue: 8–6 wins, while 7–6 does not. Record the completed set as 7–6 and retain the tie-break points separately.
5. The side that served first in the tie-break receives in the next set’s opening game. Doubles partners retain their service order within that set.

Seven-point, ten-point, and match tie-breaks differ

A ten-point tie-break may happen at 6–6 in a final set, or a match tie-break may replace the entire deciding set. Those formats require different game-level records. The 2026 Grand Slam singles final-set procedure uses a ten-point tie-break at 6–6; do not assume every other event follows it. Both seven- and ten-point tie-breaks require a two-point lead under their standard procedures. If a ten-point tie-break reaches 9–9, one further point only creates a lead, rather than automatically completing the match.

Five details to agree before the first serve

• Agree the sets needed to win and whether sets use an advantage, tie-break, or short-set format.
• Specify advantage or no-ad games and whether a match tie-break replaces a deciding set.
• Write down the tie-break target and end-change procedure.
• Identify the first server; in doubles, record partner service order and receiving courts.
• Keep each set’s games, any tie-break points, and the final winner. A current-game score of 40 never means forty games won.