Seven points or ten: the tiebreak formats you will see in a tennis draw

Tennis scores on Maxivaleur show completed sets as game counts, for example 6–4 or 7–6. When a set is decided by a tiebreak, the set score shows 7–6 and the match centre timeline adds the tiebreak points.

The standard seven-point tiebreak

Played at six games all. The first player to seven points with a two-point margin wins the set. The server changes after the first point and then every two points; players change ends every six points.

The match tiebreak to ten

Doubles events on both main tours replace a deciding third set with a single tiebreak to ten points, again with a two-point margin. It shortens matches considerably and is shown in our score line as a third "set" of, for example, 10–7.

Final-set tiebreaks at 6–6

Many professional events now play a tiebreak to ten at six games all in the final set, instead of continuing until one player is two games clear. Where that applies, the event note on the draw page says so.

What we show live

During a live match the board shows sets won, then the game score in the current set. Point-by-point scores appear in the match centre when the provider supplies them; if a feed only delivers game-level data, we say so on the match page instead of estimating points.