Tennis Rules — How to Play and Keep Score
Tennis does not have one score, it has three stacked inside each other. Points build a game, games build a set, and sets build the match, with a different winning rule at every level. Nothing about the count is hard, but the layers are exactly what people lose track of after a couple of hours on court, which makes it a natural fit for an app that rolls each level up automatically. The target template fits because every level is a race to a fixed number rather than a list of round scores, but the implementation must nest three targets rather than track one.
Overview
Tennis does not have one score, it has three stacked inside each other. Points build a game, games build a set, and sets build the match, with a different winning rule at every level. Nothing about the count is hard, but the layers are exactly what people lose track of after a couple of hours on court, which makes it a natural fit for an app that rolls each level up automatically. The target template fits because every level is a race to a fixed number rather than a list of round scores, but the implementation must nest three targets rather than track one.
Setup
Choose singles or doubles, decide the match length, and settle the deuce rule and the format of the final set before the first serve. Spin a racket or toss a coin to decide who serves first and which end each side starts on. Service alternates game by game, and in doubles it rotates through all four players.
How to play
The server has two attempts to land the ball in the diagonal service box. A rally continues until a ball goes out, into the net, or bounces twice. Ends are changed after the first game of a set and after every second game thereafter, and after every six points in a tiebreak.
Scoring
Points inside a game are called love, 15, 30 and 40. A fourth point wins the game, provided the opponent is on 30 or less. At 40-40, called deuce, advantage scoring requires two points in a row: the next point gives that side advantage, a further point wins the game, and losing the point returns the score to deuce. Under the no-ad rule, deuce is settled by one sudden-death point.
Games inside a set. The first side to six games wins the set if two games clear — 6-0 through to 6-4. At 5-5 the set continues to 7-5, and at 6-6 a tiebreak is played.
Tiebreak. Points are plain numbers. The first side to seven points wins, but only two clear, so 7-5 wins and 7-6 does not; at 6-6 play continues to 8-6, 9-7 and so on. The winner takes the set 7-6. Serve changes after the first point and then after every two points.
Super tiebreak. Where the final set is replaced by one, the target is ten points, again by two clear.
Match. The first side to win two sets in a best of three, or three sets in a best of five, wins. With an advantage final set there is no tiebreak and the set simply continues until one side leads by two games.
Ending the game
The match ends the instant the winning set is completed. The result is written as a list of set scores from the winner's point of view, with the tiebreak points in brackets: 6-4, 6-7(5), 7-5.
Common variations
Short sets to four games, no-ad scoring and super-tiebreak deciders are all standard in club and doubles play. Padel uses identical scoring on a walled court.
Scoring at a glance
| Who wins | First to target |
|---|---|
| Played to | 6 points by default |
| Score sheet | Counting up to or down from a limit |
| Typical round score | 0 – 7 |
| Negative scores | Never — scores only go up |
| Worth knowing | Score is a three-level stack — points inside a game, games inside a set, sets inside a match. Entry is a single plus-one tap per side; the app converts point counts to 15, 30, 40, advantage and rolls the levels up automatically. |
Tennis — score sheet
House rules and settings
Every table plays Tennis a little differently. These are the 10 rules groups argue about. Each one is a setting in the app — and changing it recalculates a match that is already in progress, which is the thing no other score keeper does.
Match length: what are the options in Tennis?
How many sets are needed to win. A best of three is won by taking two sets, a best of five by taking three.
Default: Best of 3 sets. Three options:
In the app: “Match length”.
Games to win a set: what is the default in Tennis?
How many games a player must win to take a set, still needing to be two games clear. Six is standard; four gives a much quicker short set.
Default: 6. Adjustable from 3 to 8 in steps of 1.
In the app: “Games to win a set”.
Play a tiebreak: on or off in Tennis?
When both sides reach the same number of games near the end of a set, play a tiebreak instead of continuing until someone is two games ahead.
Default: on.
In the app: “Play a tiebreak”.
Tiebreak starts at: what is the default in Tennis?
The game score at which the tiebreak is played, normally six games all. Short sets to four usually tiebreak at three all or four all.
Default: 6. Adjustable from 3 to 8 in steps of 1.
In the app: “Tiebreak starts at”.
Points to win a tiebreak: what is the default in Tennis?
The target in a tiebreak, which must still be won by two clear points. Seven is standard.
Default: 7. Adjustable from 5 to 12 in steps of 1.
In the app: “Points to win a tiebreak”.
Final set: what are the options in Tennis?
How the deciding set is settled. A super tiebreak replaces the whole set with a single race to ten points, which is the usual doubles and club format.
Default: Same as other sets. Three options:
In the app: “Final set”.
Deuce rule: what are the options in Tennis?
At forty all, advantage scoring makes a player win two points in a row. No-ad plays one deciding point instead, which keeps matches to time.
Default: Advantage (win by two points). Two options:
In the app: “Deuce rule”.
Singles or doubles: what are the options in Tennis?
Whether one player or a pair occupies each side of the net. Scoring is identical either way.
Default: Singles. Two options:
In the app: “Singles or doubles”.
Show 15, 30, 40: on or off in Tennis?
Display points in the traditional way rather than as plain numbers. Turn it off to see 1, 2, 3 if that is easier to follow.
Default: on.
In the app: “Show 15, 30, 40”.
Change ends on odd games: on or off in Tennis?
Prompts both sides to swap ends after the first game of a set and then after every second game.
Default: on.
In the app: “Change ends on odd games”.
Variants of Tennis
Fast4
Sets to four games, no-ad scoring, no let on serve and a tiebreak at three games all. Designed to finish a match in well under an hour.
Padel
Identical scoring on an enclosed court with walls in play. Most club padel uses the golden-point no-ad rule at deuce.
Pro set
A single long set to eight or ten games with a tiebreak at seven all or nine all, used to settle a match in one go.
Tennis is also known as
Lawn Tennis, Padel. These are the same game — the rules and the score sheet above apply to all of them.
Keep score offline
The sheet above works in your browser. Cardzo for iPhone remembers your players, survives a closed tab, and works in a field with no signal.
Coming to the App Store.