Rules
How does tennis
scoring work?
Tennis counts like no other sport: points are called 15, 30 and 40, a game needs a two-point margin, a set needs six games, and at 6-6 there is a tiebreak. Here is the whole system on one page, the way it applies on court.
Points: love, 15, 30, 40
Every game starts at love-all, that is 0-0. The first point is worth 15, the second 30, the third 40. Whoever wins the next point at 40 wins the game, unless the opponent is also at 40. The server's score is always called first: 30-15 means the server leads.
Deuce and advantage
At 40-40 the score is deuce. From here a player needs two points in a row: the next point gives the advantage, the one after that the game. If the player with the advantage loses the point, it is back to deuce. In theory a game can go on forever.
NoAd: the point at deuce decides
Many leagues, club tournaments and almost all padel competitions play NoAd, short for no advantage: at 40-40 the next point decides the game, and the receiver chooses which side to receive on. It keeps matches shorter and more predictable. In Kortscore you pick NoAd once at the start and the watch counts accordingly.
Games and sets
A set goes to the first player with six games and a margin of at least two: 6-4 wins a set, 6-5 does not. At 6-5 play continues, 7-5 wins. At 6-6 a tiebreak follows. Short formats play sets to 4 games, with a tiebreak at 4-4 (or 3-3 under the ITF short-set rule, depending on the tournament). A match is usually best of three sets; men's Grand Slams play best of five.
The tiebreak
In a tiebreak points are counted one by one: 1, 2, 3 and so on. The first to seven points, with a two-point margin, wins the tiebreak and the set, recorded as 7-6. Serve changes after the first point and then every two points; players change ends every six points. Whoever served first in the tiebreak receives in the first game of the next set.
Champions tiebreak instead of a third set
Many doubles and club events replace the third set with a match tiebreak to 10 points, again with a two-point margin. The score then reads, for instance, 6-3 4-6 [10-7]. Kortscore knows both: tiebreak to 7 and champions tiebreak to 10.
Serve and changing ends
Serve alternates after every game. Players change ends after the first, third, fifth game, so whenever the total number of games is odd, and after a set with an even number of games only after the first game of the next set. Whoever served the first game serves the third again.
Writing down the score
A result reads set by set from the winner's point of view: 6-4 3-6 7-6(4) means three sets, the third decided in a tiebreak won 7-4. Kortscore writes the result into your history exactly like that, with duration and the point-by-point log.
Common questions
Why are the points called 15, 30 and 40?
Nobody knows for sure. The most common explanation is a clock face marked at the quarters, 15, 30 and 45, with 45 shortened to 40 because it is quicker to call. Only the order matters.
What does love mean?
Zero. Probably from the French l'œuf, the egg, for the shape of the zero. A love game is a game in which the loser did not win a single point.
Who serves after the tiebreak?
Whoever served the first point of the tiebreak receives in the first game of the next set. The rotation simply carries on as if the tiebreak had been one game.
Do I have to keep track of all this?
No, the watch does. In Kortscore you tap once per point; everything above that, deuce, advantage, tiebreak serve rotation, changing ends, the app works out by exactly these rules.
Let the watch count
Kortscore, free on Google Play