Tennis Scoring Terms
The unusual terms used in scoring a tennis match are English versions of French words: deuce (pronounced ‘juice’) comes from the French word ‘deux’, meaning ‘to two’. The word love, meaning zero, also has French origins.
AD and All in Tennis
- AD – Short for Advantage. It is the point scored after Deuce. If the serving side scores, it is Ad-in. If the receiving side scores, it is Ad-out.
- ALL – An even score.
Longest Tennis Game
In the 2010 Wimbledon Grand Slam tournament, the match between Nicolas Mahut and John Isner broke the record for the longest tennis match of all time – the game was played over three days and lasted of total of 11 hours and 5 minutes.
Tennis Match Structure
Tennis is played in points: Four points win a game, six games win a set, and two or three sets win a match. You can decide how long you want your game to be but most matches are played as best-of-three or five set contests.
Tennis Infractions
- Double Fault – hitting a fault on the second service. The server loses the point.
- Fault – an unsuccessful serve that does not start the point because the ball does not land in the opponent’s designated service box.
Tennis Abbreviation
[ref] Adult Decision for a Junior to not start match for Disciplinary Reasons.