The Wimbledon final between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz broke viewership records for broadcasters, with 8.3 million viewers turning to linear free-to-air (FTA) channel BBC One for the blockbuster clash. Tennis' popularity has seen a sharp rise in the last decade or two, drawing fans, even from countries where tennis is not the most prominent sport.

Tennis is not a complicated game to understand and follows a simple scoring pattern. The ATP tournaments are played in a best-of-three format, while the four Grand Slams - Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open are played in the best-of-five format, where the first to win three sets is declared the winner. In contrast, women's matches, even at Grand Slams, are played in a best-of-three format.

Each set consists of six games, and the first to reach six games by at least a margin of two is declared the winner. For example, a player will be declared the winner if he wins 6-0, 6-1, 6-2, 6-3, and 6-4. If the score reaches 5-5, the set will be extended to seven games, and the first to seven games will be declared the winner. In case the match is tied at 6-6, a tiebreaker will be played to get the winner.

Tennis Scoring System Explained

A tennis game starts with both players at 0-0. Suppose player A wins a point, the score will go 15-0. If he wins another point, the score will be 30-0, and another point will take the score to 40-0. If he takes another point, he will win the game. If the other player wins points in between, the score could be 15-15, 15-30, 30-30, or anything, depending on the points he wins.

If both players are tied at 40-40, then the next point will not close the game, but give the winner an advantage. He needs to win another point to seal the game. If he loses the point after reaching advantage, the score will again move to 40-40.

Why Tennis Is Scored This Way?

There are multiple theories about the tennis scoring system, but the most prominent is that tennis scores in the early days were shown on two clock faces. As each player scored, the clock face was moved around 25% or 15 minutes. The next point moved the face to 30 minutes, and to 45 minutes, and then to 60 minutes for a win.

Now, many of you will be thinking the tennis scoring does not have a 45, but 40. This was done because players believed that if the score was kept 45, the next point would take the clock face to 60, which is the winning score, and since a tennis game must be won by at least two points difference, 40 was chosen as the official score. If players reach 40-40, the next point will take them to 50 minutes (advantage), and another point will move the clock face to 60.