In tennis, why is the score count 0-15-30-40 ?

Question

why not just count in sequence 1-2-3-4 ? It gets the same idea across without the initial confusion.

Answer 1

Although the scoring indeed has a British origin, it has nothing to do with the caliber of guns on naval ships or gunships.

The scoring is however positively and certainly related to the fact that there are 60 minutes in an hour, so it was 15-30-45-60, and each 'point' was a quarter. This scoring convention is part of the official set of rules of what is called 'modern lawn tennis', and these rules were 'invented' by a Brit named Wingfield, who actually even patented the game of tennis in 1874!

* 45 was afterwards simplified to 40

* 60 was logically reduced to simply 'game'

* Love is derived from the French l'oeuf (meaning 'egg' which looks like a zero)

* Deuce is derived from the French deux meaning 'two' (score for two)

To be fully complete...

Although the underlying reasoning is not substantiated or documented, it is believed that 'after 60 minutes' the circle is round, hence the game is over.

AND by that rationale, after 6*60=360 the circle is also round (a circle consists of 360 degrees), hence the reason why a set would consist of (minimum) 6 games.

Yes, 1-2-3-4 would of course make more sense, but it's also part of tradition... Like so many things in life. So there should not necessarily be a more logical or straightforward counting system...

Kind regards,

Thomas

Answer 2

I once asked my coach this before and he told me that it was because when tennis originated, (medieval times) it was a sport only played by royalty. Others would try and watch to learn the rules, but they made the scores and rules as complicated as possible to prevent the commoners from learning it.

The clock theory sounds more believable, but this was what I had always thought.

Answer 3

Becuase when Tennis first originated the person responsible loved the numbers 15, 30 and 40. And if you have no points he names it love because of his love with the numbers that coma after it. Think as a sentence and add I in the beggining. Example: I love 15, 30, 40! See it makes sense

Answer 4

The exact origin isn't clear, but it's believed that it has medieval and French roots.  Supposedly, there was a clock face on the court, and every time someone won a point, the hand moved a quarter from 0 to 15 to 30 to 45, and when it got to 60, the game was over.  The other possibility is that it comes from a British game, where the scoring system was based on different gun calibres of the British naval ships.  Salutes had 15-pound guns on the main deck, 30-pound guns on the middle deck, and 40-pound guns on the lower deck.

The origin of "love" could be from the French word "l'oeuf," which means egg, as an egg looks like 0.  Deuce probably comes from the French word "deux," which means two, representing the fact that a player must win by 2 points at deuce.

Answer 5

um i think just wanted to make it complicated so it would not be boring

Answer 6

I agree, it's without a doubt the dumbest scoring system in any sport. I don't even think the idiot(s) who devised the system could explain the reasoning behind it so it makes sense to the average tennis fan. I bet if you were to interview anyone connected with the game including players and officials they would have to admit it is a stupid system and they would be unable to explain why and how it is set up the way it is. OK, so why not 45 rather than 40? At least that would make a little more sense as it would follow a logical numerical sequense.

Answer 7

It's because of the set score and the game score are counted 1234.  It would be very condusing to have it be 2-1, 6-2 and 1-0 in a game.

Answer 8

For some reason it is based on the hands of a clock. The reason it does not go to 45 is because if duece comes it would mean you would go over the hour.

Answer 9

tennis girls are hot!

Answer 10

A lot of people have asked me that question. I presume it's because it sounds better than 1, 2, 3, 4. It makes it different from all of the other sports to have scoring that way.

Answer 11

the game was started in france and "love" in french means 0 or none and also Yoda is right-the clock is how they originially kept score. its just a different way, its not stupid!

Answer 12

i know.. does not really make sense.. i have no idea who came up with that..

i doubt there will be a change...