Love Scoring in Tennis: What Zero Means and How to Call It

Love means zero in tennis. In a standard game, if you have not won a point, your point score is love. The key to calling the score correctly is to say the server’s score first, not the leading player’s score. Both rules appear in Rule 5 of the 2026 ITF Rules of Tennis.

How to read a score with love

In a standard game, each player’s score progresses through love → 15 → 30 → 40 as they win their first three points. Those numbers are scoring labels: 30 means two points won, not thirty.

Score called	Server’s points won	Receiver’s points won
Love-all	0	0
15-love	1	0
Love-15	0	1
30-love	2	0
Love-40	0	3

“All” means the scores are tied, so love-all is 0–0. At one point each, you call “15-all”; at two each, “30-all.” Three points each is deuce, rather than 40-all. These labels follow the USTA’s scoring guide.

Suppose you are serving and lose the first point. You call “love-15.” If you win the next point, call “15-all.” Your opponent’s score stays at 15; only your score changes.

The score order does not change when the receiver takes the lead. If you are serving and have won no points while your opponent has won three, it is love-40, not 40-love.

Love resets with each new game

Love describes a score, not a penalty or an automatic loss. At love-40, the receiver needs one more point to win the game, but the server can still win three consecutive points to reach deuce.

When a standard game ends, both players’ point scores reset to love for the next standard game. The games already won still count toward the set.

Tiebreaks use a different sequence: zero, one, two, three, and so on, rather than love, 15, 30 and 40. That distinction is also set out in ITF Rule 5. For the wider system, see tennis scoring: points, games, sets and tiebreaks.

Practise calling the score

You can rehearse this without a racket. Choose one person as the server and keep that role for the whole practice game.

1. Start by saying “love-all.”
2. Have your partner name who won each imaginary point.
3. Update only that player’s score, then say the server’s score first.

Try this sequence: receiver wins, receiver wins, server wins, receiver wins, receiver wins.

The calls should be: love-15 → love-30 → 15-30 → 15-40 → game to the receiver.

Checkpoint: You can call the sequence without swapping the score order when the receiver leads. Then try it during gentle practice points. Before each point, call the score clearly enough for your opponent to hear. For matches without officials, the USTA’s Code, section 31, assigns score announcements to the server: announce the game score before the first point of a game and the point score before each subsequent point.

Why is zero called love?

The origin is uncertain. The familiar explanation that love comes from French l’œuf, meaning “egg,” is not established history. Merriam-Webster’s account identifies a lack of evidence for that story and discusses “playing for love” as another theory. For playing purposes, there is no uncertainty: love means zero.