Wimbledon Tennis 2010 Scoring system History : why Zero is called Love in Tennis
With Wimbledon in full swing these days, a simple look at any match being played and a spectator will undoubtedly get confused by the strange scoring system followed by the game. In tennis the score goes up in a very odd way; it goes 'Love' to 15 to 30 to 40. If the score is 40-40 then it is called 'deuce' and the next point won is called an 'advantage'. This has to be the oddest scoring system for any sport and its origins just like the origins of the game itself are fascinating.
The game of tennis is claimed to have been invented in ancient Egypt, but the evidence is scant and far from conclusive. The recorded history of tennis begins in French monasteries with monks playing a game of hitting a ball with their hand against a wall. This evolved to be played with a rope stretched between two players and slowly moved from the monasteries to the royal courts of France and then to England and then the world. One has to wonder about how bored the monks living in France were to have had time to invent a game. The game was so popular that it started interfering with people's religious duties and was unsuccessfully banned twice.
The origins of the scoring system are even more fascinating than the origin of the game itself. Besides the odd scoring system that randomly goes up from 15 to 30 to 40, a score of zero is never called zero it is called 'love' and a game that goes to 40-40 is called 'deuce' instead of 40 all or 40-40. Where did these crazy numbers and words come from and how did they find themselves to be a part of one of the most popular games on the planet.
The mystery of the word 'love' being used for a score of zero is explained by the fact that the French word for egg is oeuf which slowly over the years became love. An egg looks like a zero and so that is where oeuf came from. With tennis' French origin it can be seen why a French word would be used to denote zero. Now it has become standard practice to say 'love' instead of zero in all countries where tennis is played. The word has become part of tennis vocabulary and goes with the game along with its odd scoring system.
In tennis instead of saying 40 all or 40-40 the umpire will always say 'deuce'. This word again has French origins and is said to have come from the French word 'deux' which means two. 'Deux' denotes the fact that when a game is tied at 40 all two points have to be gained in order for the game to be won. Deux over the years became deuce. The word 'advantage' used after one point has been won in a deuce situation simply means the fact that one player has the advantage and is about to win the game.
In tennis the scoring system could have been so easy but ended up being so odd. A game of tennis consists of four points that have to be won and a set means that six games have to be won and a match is won by winning either two or three sets. The first point a person gets is denoted as 15, the next is 30 and the last point is 40 before the game is won. People watching a game or playing it would assume that it went up on a scale of 15 so the last point to be gotten should be labelled 45 but it is 40. The true origins of the scoring system are not known but two possible theories have been put forward. The first is that a medieval clock was on court when a game was played and it only had denominations for 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes and 60 minutes. Thus, this numbering system was followed to score the game and over time the 45 became 40. The other theory put forward is that the scoring system of tennis was borrowed from a game played by British officers in India under the British Raj. The game was called Sphairistike, and it followed a scoring system that used the weights of naval cannons. There were 15 pound cannons, 30 pound cannons and 40 pound cannons. This second theory is very interesting but because of no concrete evidence all theories regarding this matter cannot be verified.
Tennis is a great game but it takes time to understand the complicated scoring system and all the rules. Despite having such a strange scoring system tennis is played and watched by countless people all over the world. It could be that the odd scoring system has made tennis odd enough for people to get fascinated by it and want to learn more about it. However, no matter how the scoring system came about, it is a norm today and we all have to follow it.
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