Advantage and no-ad scoring decide deuce games.

How to tell which scoring rule applies

1. Check the event format before the match or set begins. Standard tennis normally uses advantage games unless a shortened format has been announced.
2. If the score reaches 40-40 in advantage scoring, call it deuce and require a two-point margin inside the game.
3. If the score reaches 40-40 in no-ad scoring, call it deuce and play one deciding point for the game.
4. In no-ad singles, the receiver usually chooses the right or left service court for the deciding point.
5. In no-ad doubles, the receiving side's choice and any mixed-doubles restriction must follow the competition's stated no-ad procedure.

What advantage scoring means

In a standard game, love, 15, 30, and 40 track the first three points won by each player or team. If both sides reach 40, the score is deuce. From deuce, one side must win the next point to gain advantage, then win one more point to take the game.

If the player or team with advantage loses the next point, the score returns to deuce. The game does not reset to 40-40 as a new count; deuce simply means the score is level again after both sides have reached at least three points.

Advantage in and advantage out

Because the server's score is called first, advantage can be described from the server's point of view. If the server wins the first point after deuce, the call is often "advantage in" or "ad in." If the receiver wins that point, the call is "advantage out" or "ad out."

The phrase does not give either player a special right. It only says who is one point away from winning the game. The next point either ends the game for the advantaged side or brings the score back to deuce.

What no-ad scoring changes

No-ad scoring is an approved alternative scoring method used in some competitions, leagues, college formats, junior formats, and recreational events. It keeps the normal love, 15, 30, and 40 sequence, but when both sides reach three points each, the next point decides the game.

That deciding point is why no-ad scoring produces shorter and more predictable game lengths. It removes repeated deuces, but it does not change the basic service rules, fault rules, line rules, or the way completed games count toward the set.

Who chooses the side on a no-ad point

In ordinary no-ad singles, the receiver chooses whether to receive the deciding point in the right service court or the left service court. The server then serves to that chosen court, using the usual first-serve and second-serve rules.

In no-ad doubles, the receiving team generally chooses the court for the deciding point, but the partners do not use that moment to ignore the receiving order set for the match format. Mixed doubles can have an additional procedure requiring the receiver to match the server's gender. Because event rules can specify these details, players should confirm the no-ad procedure before the match starts.

No-ad is not the default everywhere

Professional, amateur, school, club, and tournament tennis do not all use one universal game format. Many matches use full advantage scoring. Some use no-ad for every game. Others use no-ad only in particular draws, doubles formats, consolation matches, timed formats, or local competitions.

The score alone does not prove the format. If a match reaches deuce and the players continue with advantage, they are using standard advantage scoring. If they play one deciding point at deuce, they are using no-ad scoring because the rules for that match call for it.

How the same deuce score ends differently

• Advantage game: at deuce, the server wins a point for advantage in. If the server wins the next point, the server wins the game. If the server loses it, the score returns to deuce.
• No-ad game: at deuce, the receiver chooses the service court where required, one deciding point is played, and the winner of that point wins the game immediately.
• Doubles no-ad: the receiving side's court choice and receiver must match the event's no-ad doubles procedure, so partners should not improvise a new order after reaching deuce.

Common scoring mistakes

• "Advantage means the server gets an extra serve" is wrong. Advantage is only the point score after deuce.
• "No-ad means no deuce" is also wrong. The game still reaches deuce at 40-40; it just ends with the next point.
• "The server chooses the no-ad side" is not the usual rule. In ordinary no-ad singles, the receiver chooses the service court for the deciding point.
• "No-ad changes the set score" goes too far. No-ad changes how individual games are finished, not how completed games are counted in the set.
• "Advantage scoring always lasts longer" is not guaranteed for one game, but it allows repeated deuces, so it can run much longer than no-ad.

How officials and players enforce it

Officials enforce the scoring format that applies to the match. In an advantage match, they continue calling deuce and advantage until one side wins the game by the required two-point sequence. In a no-ad match, they announce or manage the deciding point at deuce and make sure the correct receiver and service court are used under the event procedure.

If players use the wrong format by mistake, officials normally work from the competition's correction rules and the point at which the error is discovered. In unofficiated play, the best practical step is to stop immediately, agree on the score and the announced format, then continue from the correct procedure rather than playing several more points under uncertainty.

Source material

• ITF Rules and Regulations
• ITF Rules of Tennis
• ATP Official Rulebook
• WTA Rules
• USTA Friend at Court