UK Titles Editorial
A tennis scoreboard can show 40 beside one player's name and 30 beside the other's, then suddenly return to zero. Those numbers describe a game within a larger contest. Once you separate points, games, sets and the match, the changing display becomes much easier to follow.
For UK viewers getting to grips with Wimbledon or watching tennis through the rest of the year, the main principles travel well. The format still matters: some competitions use different ways to finish games, sets or matches.
How points build a standard game
In an ordinary advantage-scoring game, the first three points a player wins are labelled 15, 30 and 40. Zero is called love. The LTA's scoring guide sets out this sequence:
| Points won | Score called |
|---|---|
| 0 | Love |
| 1 | 15 |
| 2 | 30 |
| 3 | 40 |
A player needs at least four points, with a two-point margin, to take the game. For example, winning four points while an opponent wins two ends it. The game score then resets for the next game, while the winner adds one to their total of games in the set.
The server's score is called first, as the ITF glossary explains. At 30–15, the server has won two points and the receiver one. At 15–30, those positions are reversed. The numbers are scoring labels, so you need not treat the jump from 30 to 40 as an arithmetic puzzle.
What happens at deuce and advantage
If both players win three points, the game reaches 40–40, or deuce. From there, a player must win two points in succession. The first earns advantage; the next wins the game. If the opponent wins that next point, it returns to deuce. The Australian Open's scoring explainer describes this cycle.
Imagine the server takes the first point after deuce. They have advantage and a chance to finish the game. If the receiver wins the following point, neither has the required margin, so they start again from deuce. Several rounds of this can happen within one game.
That is why an advantage game can continue after both players have already won far more than four points. The target is a winning margin at the right stage, rather than a fixed maximum number of rallies.
How games become a set
In a conventional tie-break set, six games can win it when the winner leads by at least two games: 6–4 and 6–2 are examples. At 5–5, another game alone cannot settle the set. One player can take the next two for 7–5; if each wins one, the score becomes 6–6 and a tie-break decides it. The US Open's spectator guide explains this pattern.
Keep the two levels separate while watching. A player leading 5–4 in games might still be behind 15–40 in the current game. Winning that game would complete a 6–4 set; losing it would make the games level at 5–5. A point can therefore change the immediate game and the direction of the set at the same time.
How many sets win the match?
Best of three means the first player to win two sets wins the match. Best of five means the first to win three. The maximum is not a requirement: a best-of-three match can finish in two sets, while a best-of-five match can finish in three.
At Grand Slam tournaments, including Wimbledon, the 2026 Grand Slam Rulebook specifies best-of-five for men's singles main-draw matches. Other categories can follow different formats, so use the event's rules for the match you are watching.
For instance, a player winning a best-of-three match 6–4, 3–6, 6–2 has taken two sets to one. The game totals show how each set unfolded; the sets won decide that match.
Why a tie-break looks different
A standard seven-point tie-break counts individual points as 0, 1, 2 and so on. The first player to reach at least seven with a two-point lead takes it. A 7–4 score finishes it; 7–6 does not. From 6–6 in tie-break points, possible finishes include 8–6 or 9–7. The ITF explains that the winner takes the set 7–6.
Notice the difference between the six games each that triggered the tie-break and the points now being counted inside it. The set has not turned into a race to seven ordinary games.
Serving also changes. Under the 2026 Rules of Tennis, the player due to serve begins with one point. The opponent then serves two, after which the players alternate in blocks of two. This explains why the same server does not stay in place for a whole tie-break as they would for an ordinary game.
A deciding-set tie-break has its own target
In men’s and women’s main-draw singles at the Grand Slams, the deciding-set tie-break uses a target of ten points, still with a two-point margin, when the final set reaches 6–6. The US Open's current guide confirms this arrangement. In singles, that deciding set is the third in a best-of-three match or the fifth in a best-of-five match.
Using the ten-point target also described in the Australian Open’s explainer, a 7–5 lead in this tie-break is still short of the target. A 10–8 finish works; at 9–9, play continues until a player moves two points ahead. Check the competition’s tie-break target.
When a tie-break replaces the final set
A match tie-break is a different arrangement: it replaces the deciding set altogether. Under the ITF's approved alternative methods, a ten-point match tie-break also requires a two-point margin. It begins with the match level in sets, without first playing six games each in another set.
Another variation is no-ad scoring. At deuce, one deciding point settles the game, so there is no repeating advantage cycle. These changes can be combined. For example, World Tennis Tour guidance specifies no-ad games in its doubles draw and a ten-point match tie-break if the teams split the opening two sets.
When joining a match midway through, identify the format, the sets already won and the current games or tie-break points. That gives each number on the scoreboard a job, and helps you recognise what the next point could decide.
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