15, 30, 40, what?
You drew a player in the office sweepstake, opened the live scores, and met something like "6-4 3-6 7-6(5)". This is tennis scoring explained for exactly your situation: enough to follow your ticket, argue confidently by the kettle, and know instantly whether to celebrate.
Points, games, sets - the three-layer cake
Tennis is scored in layers. Win four points and you take a game; win six games (by a margin of two) and you take a set; win enough sets and you take the match. The famous oddity is the point names: nothing, then 15, then 30, then 40, then game. Nobody can fully explain why (medieval French clock faces get blamed), and no, 45 was apparently too long to shout. If both players reach 40 it's deuce: from there you need two points in a row - the first gives you advantage, the second gives you the game, and losing it sends you back to deuce, sometimes for ten agonising minutes.
Serving, and why "breaks" matter
Players alternate serving a game at a time, and serving is a big advantage - at the top level the server wins most of their own games. Winning a game on the other person's serve is called a break, and it's the currency of tennis: one break is often enough to take a set 6-4. When a commentator gasps that your player is "a break down in the third", that's why. "Breaking back" means levelling things by taking the opponent's serve in return.
Tiebreaks, and the numbers in brackets
If a set reaches 6-6, a tiebreakdecides it: first to 7 points, two clear. That's the bracketed number in a scoreline - "7-6(5)" means the tiebreak finished 7-5. The exception is a deciding final set at a Grand Slam: since 2022, all four majors play a longer 10-point tiebreak at 6-6 in the final set (first to 10, two clear), a rule made permanent in 2024. So if your sweepstake player is level in the fifth set at 6-6, clear your diary for one more shootout.
Best of three, best of five
Women's matches are best of three sets everywhere. Men's matches are best of three on the regular tour but best of five at the four Grand Slams- which is why a men's Slam match can run past five hours and why "two sets down" isn't over: comebacks from 0-2 happen every year. Time-wise, expect a routine women's match around 1.5 hours and men's Slam matches anywhere from two hours to a small geological era.
Reading a scoreline like a native
Take "6-4 3-6 7-6(5)": your player won the first set 6-4, lost the second 4-6 (the winner's games are listed first, per set), then took a deciding-set tiebreak 7 points to 5. Total drama, three layers deep. One more convention: the score you hear during a game ("30-15") always puts the server's points first.
Retirements, walkovers, and your ticket
A retirement is a player stopping mid-match, usually injured - their opponent advances. A walkover means the match never started because a player withdrew. For your sweepstake, the standard rule is brutal and simple: a win is a win however it arrives, and a retirement counts as a loss for the retiree. What happens if a player withdraws before their first match should be agreed before the draw - the usual house rule and the rest of the small print are in sweepstake rules and variations.
That's genuinely all you need. Pick a Slam, pull a draw, and by the second week you'll be explaining deuce to someone else.