1.) How many points does it take to win a game? Each competitor starts out with a score of “love.” When a point is scored, the player receives 15 points, a second point gives the player another 15 points, a third puts the total at 40, then the fourth point wins the match.
2.) How many games does it take to win a set? For a singles match, it takes six games to win a set, and for a doubles match, it takes eight games to win a set.
3.) How many sets does it take to win a match? A singles match is best two out of three, while a doubles match is one single set.
4.) Is there an overtime? There can be. If a singles set is knotted up 6-6, or if a doubles set is tied at 8-8, there is a tiebreaker game to decide the winner. The final score of any singles set that goes into a tiebreaker would be 7-6, and any doubles set that goes into a tiebreaker would be 9-8.
5.) What does ‘love’ mean? ‘Love’ is simply the term that represents zero in tennis scoring.
6.) Where did the term ‘love’ come from? There is no official reasoning for why tennis started using the word ‘love’ instead of zero, but the Oxford English dictionary suggests that it might come from the colloquial phrase “for love,” which means “without stakes being wagered.”
7.) Are there any other differences between doubles and singles? Besides the fact that there are two athletes per team in doubles and only one for singles, the out of bounds lines are different. The court is actually slightly bigger for a doubles match than a singles.
8.) What happens if the ball touches the out of bounds lines? Unlike the sport of basketball, if the tennis ball hits the out of bounds line, it is inbounds.
9.) What is a fault? A fault is when the player serving the ball serves it into the net. When this happens, a fault is called by the judge and the server gets one more chance to serve the ball inbounds or else they lose the point.