Tennis Scoring System.

[bountyboy]

Can anyone please explain in basic English how the scoring system is worked. Ok I get the 15 30 40 game stuff. Why does it jump about so much. Why not 1 2 3 game. And while I'm here what the hell is and where did deuce come from.

Thanks guys.

[zebo]

Ok, it's 15, 30 40, at 40-40, it's called deuce, and one player has to win 2 consecutive points to win the set, it goes Advantage, then Game. Of course, if at deuce you lose the next point, Advantage to your opponant, you then need to win 3 consecutive points, back to deuce, Advantage and Game.

[Fibonacci]

From wikipedia:
The origins of the 15, 30, and 40 scores are believed to be medieval French. It is possible that a clock face was used on court, with a quarter move of the hand to indicate a score of 15, 30, and 45. When the hand moved to 60, the game was over. However, in order to ensure that the game could not be won by a one-point difference in players' scores, the idea of "deuce" was introduced. To make the score stay within the "60" ticks on the clock face, the 45 was changed to 40. Therefore, if both players have 40, the first player to score receives ten and that moves the clock to 50. If the player scores a second time before the opponent is able to score, they are awarded another ten and the clock moves to 60. The 60 signifies the end of the game. However, if a player fails to score twice in a row, then the clock would move back to 40 to establish another "deuce".
Another theory is that the scoring nomenclature came from the French game jeu de paume (a precursor to tennis which initially used the hand instead of a racket). Jeu de paume was very popular before the French revolution, with more than 1,000 courts in Paris alone. The traditional court was 90 ft in total with 45 ft on each side. When the server scored, he moved forward 15 ft. If he scored again, he would move another 15 ft. If he scored a third time, he could only move 10 ft closer.
The origin of the use of "love" for zero is also disputed. It is possible that it derives from the French expression for "the egg" (l'œuf) because an egg looks like the number zero. This is similar to the origin of the term "duck" in cricket, supposedly from "duck's egg", referring to a batsman who has been called out without completing a run. "Love" is also said to derive from l'heure "the hour" in French. A third possibility comes from the Dutch expression iets voor lof doen, which means to do something for praise, implying no monetary stakes. Another theory on the origins of the use of "love" comes from the acceptance that, at the start of any match, when scores are at zero, players still have "love for each other".

[New Judge]

Yes. Tennis is a game of second (or third) chances.

You can miss your serve but still win the point. You can lose points but still win the game. You canlose the game but still win the set. You can lose a set (or two) but still win the match.

There are often instances of a player winning a match having scored fewer points than his opponent because it is not how many points you win but which points you win. Some points are far more important than others.

[jim360]

I take it you aren't a fan?

[ToraToraTora]

fibonacci is pretty well correct. The clock face is what was used but 40 is said instead of 45 mainly becuase it's easier to say in French and English. Deuce is the English equivalent of Deux le Jeu ("to both is the game")