While watching the Australian Open at the moment, I pondered the origin of the scoring system. Most games increase 1 by 1 until one of the opponents reaches a pre-determined score.

So why does tennis go luv - 15 - 40 - game? or if it is a tie at forty it is called deuce and the winner has to win two points in a row?

Apparently the scoring system was based on the four quarters of a clockface, and 'forty' was originally known as 'forty-five', but shortened for ease of vocalising. I have no idea WHY the system should be based that way, but you can blame the French. They called 'zero' oeuf, meaning 'egg', and that was Anglicised to 'love'.

40-all is deuce, and to win a game, a player must win two clear points. The first winner is called 'advantage', but if they lose the next point, it reverts to deuce again. In theory, a single game can last for hours..:)

Gee I have never thought about the scoring system despite having playing A grade for years.

Quote:

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How the scoring system evolved, has never really been known. It is thought that the term "love" probably comes from the French word l' oeuf, meaning "the egg" or "zero". A theory about the scoring comes from France, where the most common silver piece was worth 60 sous, and each of its four parts was worth 15 sous. At this time of the game, tennis was played for stakes, so points were worth 15, 30, or 45 sous. But, after coin denominations were no longer significant, 45 was shortened to 40 because it was easier to say.

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From this site . The quote gives only a theory though. I also read somewhere that "deuce" was a corruption of the French deux , that sounds right as you have to win by 2 when at deuce.

Well there`s 2 possible explainations of the scoring, I wonder how many others there are.