Tennis scoring can be hard when first starting out. It can be even harder when you hear a word that is neither a number, nor a word you hear in many other situations.
In tennis, there are sets, games, and points.
When both players reach 40–40 in a game, the score is called deuce.
At this point, the game is no longer decided by a single point. Instead, a player must win two consecutive points to win the game.
This is what makes deuce one of the most important pressure moments in tennis.
How deuce works:
Once the score reaches deuce:
- Winning one point gives a player advantage
- Winning the next point wins the game
- Losing the next point returns the score to deuce
So the sequence can repeat several times, with no limit as to how long the game can take:
- Deuce
- Advantage Player A
- Deuce
- Advantage Player B
- Deuce again
However, in some professional doubles matches, it’s played as ‘sudden death’ deuce. In this situation, the receiving team decides who the server will serve to, and whichever team wins the point, wins the game.
Why deuce matters:
Deuce situations are always tense, and often decide:
- long service games
- momentum shifts in sets
- even entire matches
There is almost always more pressure on a server at deuce, as no-one wants their serve to be broken.
At professional level, holding serve after deuce is often the difference between winning and losing tight sets. If you can learn to play under the pressure of a ‘deuce game’, you’ll improve your chances of winning greatly.
👉 Learn more: link to Tennis Scoring Explained and Advantage in Tennis
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