LET ME EXPLAIN: Royal sport’s a royal pain to score
While the game of tennis seems simple enough to play with players hitting a small green ball back and forth over a net, the scoring of the game is considerably more complex. Christian Wright, head coach of the USU tennis teams said tennis was a European sport that originated in England or France. Though the beginnings of the game are clear, the origin of the scoring is a bit more nebulous. Some suggest the scoring was based on a timed game, thus giving the common 0, 15, 30, 40 scoring structure of today’s sport, but the true origin remains a mystery. “I’m not sure how it got started scoring that way but it has remained that scoring format for quite some time,” Wright said. “There have been some changes throughout the years.”
Game A game is played as players alternate service and try to score points by preventing their opponent from returning the ball. The scoring in the game goes as follows: love (zero), 15, 30, 40. The first time a player earns a point, the score is said to be 15-love. This essentially means the score is 1-0 in that game. The first player to win four points and at least two more points than their opponent wins that game.
SetsA set is won as a player wins at least six individual games and at least two more than their opponent.
Match In almost every tennis event, with the exception of the four Grand Slam events, there are three sets in a match. In the Grand Slam events, the men play five sets. The player who wins two out of the three sets is said to have won the match. So, if a player played a perfect match, the score would be 6-0, 6-0. Since the other player did not win a set, the game is over there. -sethhawkins@cc.usu.edu