Free Tennis scoreboard

Why score Tennis with ScoreZen

• ✓One-tap scoring, built for Tennis
• ✓Share the live score by QR code or link
• ✓Free for spectators — no app to install to watch
• ✓Keeps working if the connection drops
• ✓34 sports, tournaments and standings included

How Tennis scoring works

Within a game, points are counted 15, 30, 40 then game, with 0 called "love". At 40-40 it is "deuce", and a player must then win two points in a row to take the game (advantage then game), except in a deciding-point format where the next point wins the game. Games are then strung together to win a set, and sets to win the match.

Match format

A match is played best-of-3 sets (2 sets to win) or best-of-5 sets (3 sets to win) depending on the competition. A set is usually played to 6 games with a 2-game lead, with a tie-break often deciding at 6-6. There is no time limit: the match lasts until a player reaches the required number of sets.

How to win

The match is won by the player or team that first wins the number of sets required by the format (2 of 3, or 3 of 5).

Recommended ScoreZen setup

In ScoreZen, set up tennis with a hierarchical points/games/sets scoring mode: choose the "Official" preset for the 15-30-40-game count with advantages and tie-break, or a simplified "Casual" preset. Set the number of sets to win (2 or 3) and the deciding-point/tie-break option to match your format.

How tennis scoring works, point by point

Tennis stacks four layers: points, games, sets, match. Nothing carries over from one layer to the next.

Inside a game, points are called love, 15, 30, 40. Four points win the game, but only with two clear points. At 40-40 the score is deuce. The next point won is advantage. Take the point after it and the game is yours; lose it and you go back to deuce.

Six games win a set, with a two-game margin: 6-4 is a set, 6-5 is not. At 6-6 most formats play a tie-break. Points are counted 1, 2, 3, and the first to seven with two clear takes the set 7-6. The serving order changes too: the player due to serve plays one point, then each player serves two points in turn. Ends change every six points.

A match is best of three sets or best of five. Many competitions replace the deciding set with a 10-point match tie-break, still two clear. Players change ends after the first, third and every following odd game. Settle the format before the first serve. (Sources: ITF Rules of Tennis, rules 5 and 6 on scoring, rule 10 on change of ends; LTA, rules and scoring.)

The counting mistakes that decide club matches

The most common mistake is calling game on advantage. Advantage is one point ahead, not the game. There is still a point to win. Late in a match, when everyone is tired, this is what starts the arguments.

Second: the order of the announcement. The server's score comes first, out loud, before every point. 30-15 means different things depending on who is serving. Announce it every time and disputes rarely go anywhere.

Third: the tie-break serve. One point, then two, then two. Players who serve two straight away put the order out, and nobody notices until 4-3. The change of ends every six points gets forgotten just as easily, because nobody sits down.

Fourth: mixing up the 7-point tie-break played at 6-6 with the 10-point match tie-break that replaces a third set. On a scoresheet they look alike. They are not the same rules.

Fifth: nobody tracks the games. Everyone knows the current point, no one is sure whether it is 4-3 or 3-3. Say the game score at every changeover, and write each set down the moment it ends.

Keeping score on the day, without an umpire

Club tennis has no umpire. Each player calls the lines on their own side, and the server announces the score before every point. That announcement is the official score of the match. If nobody speaks, there is no score.

If someone keeps score off court, sit at the changeover end, level with the net, where both players can hear you. Behind a baseline you are in one player's eyeline and out of the other's earshot.

At every changeover, say the whole picture out loud: sets, games, who serves next. The ninety seconds allowed are enough for that.

When the score is contested, do not replay the argument. Restart from the last score both players accept; agreed points stand. If the disagreement is about who served, keep the current server to the end of that game and correct the order at the next one. Ten seconds, then play.

For the public, put the score where it reads from the fence: a flip counter on the net post, a phone propped on the bench, or the clubhouse screen.

What ScoreZen changes for a tennis match

You keep score on your phone, tap by tap, and the people who could not come see it move. You share one link or show a QR code. Spectators pay nothing, create no account, and there is no cap on how many follow.

On court, the phone can stay with the players. A QR code lets the two of them add their own points, which is the normal club situation where nobody is free to sit and count. If reception is poor on the courts, it keeps counting without a network and syncs afterwards.

Around the match: full-screen TV mode for the clubhouse screen, a transparent overlay if the final is streamed through OBS, a printable A4 scoresheet for the table, and a replay plus a vertical story to share on the last point.

For a club tournament the draws are built in: knockout, league, groups, Swiss system, best-of-3 and best-of-5 series, rotating teams for a social evening. The club site can embed the widget, fixtures export to CSV, and a public API is available.

Price: spectators are always free, three trial matches are yours for life, then it is €1.99 once, for life. 25 languages.

Frequently asked questions