Why TENNIS?

Question

why in tennis is the scoring so stupidlry put at 15 love 30 love and so on why not just one nil two nil and so on

Answer 1

the best bit about it is the way it goes 15-30 -40....where did the 40 come outta??? surely it should be 45....

Answer 2

The origins of the fifteen, thirty, forty scores are believed to have medieval and French roots. It is possible a clock face was used on court, with a quarter move of the hand to indicate a score of fifteen, thirty, and forty-five. When the hand moved to sixty, the game was over. Another explanation is that the scoring system was copied from the game sphairistike, which was played by British officers in India during the 19th century. That game's scoring system was based on the different gun calibres of the British naval ships. When firing a salute, the ships first fired their 15-pound guns on the main deck, followed by the 30-pound guns of the middle deck, and finally by the 40-pound lower gun deck.

The origin of the use of "love" for zero is also disputed; it is possible that it derives from the French word for an egg (l‘oeuf) because an egg looks like the number zero. "Love" is also said to possibly derive from "l'heure" or "the hour" in French. When stating the score, the server's score is stated first. If the server (or the umpire) announces the score as "thirty-love," for example, it means that the server has won two points and the receiver none.

Answer 3

Ignore that first answer, it's because the scoring was done on the clock face so it represents the quarter hours. But it goes to 40 not 45 so that the next point can be 50 if it goes to deuce.

Answer 4

I was thinking exactly the same thing myself last night ! lol

Answer 5

When it was invented (by the French) it was 15 L'Oeuf (egg) representing a zero. So ... in a way it is.

xxFJ

Answer 6

The word Tennis comes from the French word 'tenez' which means to take hold of.  It evolved from the game 'Paume' which was played with the palm of the hand.

L'oeuf is correct the origins of the word 'love'.

Answer 7

its french - enough said. lol

Answer 8

Because the current scoring system was invented by the French....

[Edit] - this if from wiki

It is possible a clock face was used on court, with a quarter move of the hand to indicate a score of fifteen, thirty, and forty-five. When the hand moved to sixty, the game was over. Another explanation is that the scoring system was copied from the game sphairistike, which was played by British officers in India during the 19th century. That game's scoring system was based on the different gun calibres of the British naval ships. When firing a salute, the ships first fired their 15-pound guns on the main deck, followed by the 30-pound guns of the middle deck, and finally by the 40-pound lower gun deck