Tennis
Understanding Tennis Scoring: How Many Sets in a Match?
Tennis is played in either best of three or best of five sets. The player or team who wins the majority wins the match. We explore tennis sets and scoring.
View of outdoor tennis court with scores in view//Getty Images
Sets in a tennis match give us a story of how the match went, who won and by what score. Each tennis match has a prescribed number of sets.
Either a best of three or best of five sets. In the former, the player who wins two out of three sets wins the match, while winning three out five sets in the latter similarly wins a match.
Set scores are easy to determine. In the first set for instance, a score reflecting 6-4 informs us that a player has won six games, by a margin of two over their opponent with four.
We explore the number of sets in a tennis match and how they work in this article.
How many sets in a tennis match?
As we have already alluded to above, a tennis match employs either a best of three or best of five sets.
A best of three is more commonly used across the spectrum and for female’s singles and doubles.
The best of five is usually used in the men’s matches, so to do they use the best of three.
From that it’s pretty much clear to deduce that a tennis match consists of either three sets or five sets, depending on the rules of the event. Something like this:
Game A: Three Set Match
| Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 |
Game B: Five Set Match
| Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 |
It’s like four quarters in a basketball game or two halves in a football game. Sports formats are not that polarised or far apart in terms of similarities, and tennis’ sophistication doesn’t make it that much of an outlier from the others.
The scores in a tennis set
The scores of a complete match my be given in either of two ways. By presenting the sets won or with set’s scores given separately.
We prefer the latter, as it gives a clearer break down of what happened in each set, as opposed to a shorter version given as 2-1 (two sets to one).
Either way, the match winner’s score is stated first. For instance, 7-5, 6-7, 6-4 and 7-6. The match was won by three sets to one.
The two types of set formats in tennis
In a tennis match, sets have two types of formats, an advantage set and a tie break set. We explore each briefly.
Advantage set
An advantage set is played until either player has won at least six games and continues without a tie breaker. That means at 6-6, there is no tie breaker, the game continues until one player wins by a two-game advantage.
This type of set has the potential of going on for longer periods and doesn’t result in timeous conclusions of sets, as was witnessed in a match between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut in the man’s first round of the 2010 Wimbledon.
The fifth set of this historical match was played for eight hours and eleven minutes, with the set scored recorded at 70- 68, won by the American, John Isner.
Advantage sets are no longer played for tennis tournaments since 2022. The tie break set is the much-preferred format recently.
In a tennis match, sets have two types of formats, an advantage set and a tie break set. We explore each briefly.
The longest tennis match lasted 11 hours and 5 minutes, in 2010, between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut.
Tie break set
In a tie break set, when scores get to 6-6, a tie break game is used to break the deadlock. The first player to reach seven points in the tie break game or win by an advantage of two games wins the set.
Although tie break sets can also last a long time, they are, however, significantly shorter than an advantage set.
The alternative set scoring format’s
There are alternative set scoring formats to the traditional six games to win found in tie breaks or advantage sets. These aren’t commonly used in contemporary pro tennis but are found in the game, nonetheless.
Eight or nine game pro set
This set format is played until one player wins eight or nine games, with a margin of two games. The tie break is played at eight or nine all.
Officially not recognised by the ITF, nor played in modern professional tennis, the format is found in amateur leagues and high school tennis but was supposedly used in early professional tours.
Short sets
The set’s format is played until one player wins four games with a margin of two games. The ‘short’ in this format is very telling if we may say. The tie break is played at four games all.
The Davis Cup was used as a tester by the IFT in low level matches. Despite its discontinuation, it remains an acceptable alternative in ITF rules.
New final set rules in tennis
A tie break set could either have an ‘advantage final set’ or ‘tie break set’, either of which had to be announced in advance of the event.
However, as has been witnessed with the length of final sets in tennis matches, particularly in advantages sets, new rules were announced in 2022.
The Grand Slam Board, in consultation with the WTA, ATP and ITF announced that in all four major tournaments, a new tie break format will be used in final sets.
That is, the third set for women’s singles, and the fifth set for men’s singles. At 6-6, in a final set, players will play a ten-point tie breaker game to determine the match winner.
Like seven-point tie breakers, the first player to reach ten points by at least a margin of two points wins the match. If the score is tied at 9-9, a player must win two more points to win a set, and so on.
Jimmy is based in Johannesburg, South Africa and has a Diploma in Journalism and Media Studies. He’s a sports fanatic of several sporting disciplines which he is well versed with.