Tennis scoring system mystery uncovered – Tennis Special
Tennis is being followed all across the globe but did you ever wonder why the scoring system in tennis is so different and alien? Starts with love rather than duck or nil? If not then you are not a great thinker!
There are two schools of thoughts that explain the usage of “love” instead of duck or nil in the scoring. One school of thought explains that the tennis origins from the suburbs of France and “love” original from the same state
as well. “l'oeuf" is a French word which means zero and the officials in France used this word to report the score when it was nil or zero. This word is pronounced in the same manner as “love”; hence tennis association adopted the word and replaced it with
the English version of that word so that it was generic for everyone. In my perspective, it’s a lame explanation for this scoring system.
The explanation that fascinated me the most was that this word “love” is used to promote that player has ‘love for game’. The first and last point are named as “love” and “game” so the explanation can be expanded more in a manner
that players should play for the love of game and they can portray that after winning a game as they moved from “love” to “game” in their course to win the game – fascinating much!
Now let’s move onto the scoring system in between the ‘love’ and ‘game’ – this is more fascinating.
Previously, the scores were like 15,30,45 and 60 but then 45 was replaced with 40 and the explanation that was given was that it is easy to pronounce 40 than 45 – Like they took 45 minutes to pronounce 45!
Let’s see what enabled this kind of scoring system. French people are originators of this game so there has to be something unique attached to it as anything what French has invented has something unique aspect to it just like
“French Kiss”.
So, the most appropriate explanation given for this scoring system is that it is adopted from the thing everyone uses everyday all the time – it actually tells you the time – CLOCK!
The clock’s dial works in the same manner as the tennis scoring system. The dial on classy watches has prominent spots for 15, 30, 45 and 60 minutes. And that is how the tennis scoring system came into being.
Ever thought there was some logic behind this scoring system? If not then Google is not your best friend yet!
I always wondered how this love, game and this random scoring system came into existence. This research might not be fascinating to those who don’t love tennis but would be exciting for the ones who truly follow this exciting sport.
The scoring system has lost its essence in the fast form of the game as players are no more motivated with the word ‘love’. They are rather not at all concerned about what the scorer is saying because they are too busy thinking
about what will happen next!
Eventually everything loses its charm – Just like players come and go. Yesterday it was all about Verdasco and Ana Ivanovic; today it’s Serena and Jake; tomorrow it might be Djokovic and Sharapova – Who Knows!
Views expressed here are the writer’s own and in no way represent bettor.com’s official editorial policy.
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