How do you keep score in tennis?

Short answer: Tennis scoring has three levels. Points climb love (0), 15, 30, 40, then game. Games stack into a set — first to 6 games, win by 2 (or a tiebreak at 6-6 in most formats). Sets stack into a match — best of 3 sets at most levels, best of 5 at men's Grand Slams. You win the match by winning the majority of sets.

Level 1: Points within a game

Each game starts at love-love (0-0). Points climb on an odd ladder that has nothing to do with counting normally:

Points won	Score called
0	Love
1	15
2	30
3	40
4 (win by 2)	Game

The server's score is always called first — "30-15" means the server has won two points, the returner one. If both players reach 40, the game doesn't end yet — it goes to deuce. See What does "deuce" mean in tennis? for exactly how that resolves.

Level 2: Games within a set

A set is a race to 6 games, but — same rule as points — you have to win by at least 2. Common outcomes:

• 6-4, 6-3, etc. — a clean set win by 2 or more games.
• 7-5 — the set was tied at 5-5, one side pulled 2 games clear.
• 6-6 → tiebreak — at most levels of tennis (including all four Grand Slams as of recent rule changes — always confirm your specific event's format), a set tied 6-6 is decided by a tiebreak game rather than playing out an "advantage set" indefinitely.

Players alternate who serves each game — you serve one full game, your opponent serves the next, and so on for the whole set.

Level 3: Sets within a match

A match is won by whoever wins the majority of sets:

• Best of 3 sets — first to win 2 sets. This is the format for women's professional matches, most men's non-Slam professional matches, and the overwhelming majority of recreational, college, and league play.
• Best of 5 sets — first to win 3 sets. Reserved for men's singles at the four Grand Slams.

Some recreational and league formats shorten this further — for example, replacing a full third set with a single 10-point match tiebreak. If you're not sure which format your match uses, ask before you start; it changes how you should manage your effort across the match.

Putting it all together

A full score line like 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 reads as: won set one 6 games to 4, lost set two 3 games to 6, won set three in a tiebreak — match won, 2 sets to 1. Every number in that line is itself the result of a string of deuce-and-advantage battles inside individual games. That's the whole system — three nested counters, each with its own "win by 2" rule.

Doubles and No-Ad variants

Everything above describes standard singles scoring. Doubles uses the identical point/game/set structure — the differences are in serve rotation and, at many recreational and college levels, alternate rules like No-Ad scoring or a match tiebreak instead of a third set.

Keeping track of all this on court

In theory you just remember the score. In practice — mid-rally, out of breath, arguing about a line call — it's easy to lose track of which level of the ladder you're even on. That's the entire reason Deuce exists: a single tap on your Apple Watch after each point, and the app tracks points, games, and sets for you, correctly, every time — including deuce, advantage, and tiebreaks.

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