Special point terms
How many breaks of serve is required to win a set?
Tennis
Game pointA "game point" occurs in tennis whenever the player who is in the lead in the game needs only one more point to win the game. The terminology is extended to sets (set point), matches (match point), and even championships (championship point). For example, if the player who is serving has a score of 40-love, the player has a triple game point (triple set point, etc.) as the player has three consecutive chances to win the game. Game points, set points, and match points are not part of official scoring and are not announced by the chair umpire in tournament play. Break pointA "break point" occurs if the receiver, not the server, has a chance to win the game with the next point. Break points are of particular importance because serving is generally considered advantageous, with the server being expected to win games in which they are serving. A receiver who has one (score of 30–40), two (score of 15–40) or three (score of love-40) consecutive chances to win the game has "break point", "double break point" or "triple break point", respectively. If the receiver does, in fact, win their break point, the game is awarded to the receiver, and the receiver is said to have "converted" their break point. If the receiver fails to win their break point it is called a "failure to convert." Winning break points, and thus the game, is also referred to as "breaking serve", as the receiver has disrupted, or "broken" the natural advantage of the server. If in the following game the previous server also wins a break point it is referred to as "breaking back". At least one break of serve is required to win a set.