Anyone who is not very familiar with tennis has ever wondered how long is a tennis match. But the real answer is that tennis matches do not have a specific duration in-game time.
Another very different thing is if we rely on the average duration that a tennis match usually has. This varies depending on whether it is the best of three sets or the best of five sets, and also differs from whether it is men’s tennis or women’s tennis.
What is the tennis set? How many games does a set have?
In a tennis match, the duration of this will always be subject to the number of sets that must be played to win the match.
Well, then, what is a tennis set? And how many games does a set have?
Plain and simple, a tennis set consists of a sequence of games, in which players alternate their service between the different games until they win 6 games with a difference of 2 (for example, 6-4) or until they reach 7 after playing a tie-break (for example, 7-6)
But how many points a tennis game have?
While it is true that winning a game is tremendously difficult, and more when you have a complicated opponent in front of you, to win a game of tennis you must earn 4 points without the opponent getting to draw you.
To understand this, you should know that the scoring rules of a game in a tennis match is as follows:
- 15-0 or 15-15
- 30-0, 30-15 (or vice versa) or 30-30.
- 40-0, 40-15 (or vice versa), 40-30 (or vice versa) or 40-40.
- But, once you get tied at 40-40, you must play and earn two additional points to win the game, that is, after being A (Advantage) – 40 on the scoreboard, if you win the next point, the game is yours.
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How many sets does a tennis match have?
After reading this section you will understand everything much better. Since I said that the duration of a tennis match comes according to the sets that must be played, now let’s answer the question of how many sets does a tennis match have?
To win a tennis match, we must know if the best of 3 sets are played (as in most Masters 1000, ATP 500, 250 or any other professional tennis tournament), or conversely, the best of 5 is played sets (as in all Grand Slam or Davis Cup).
Therefore, to win a tennis match in the event that we play the best of 3 sets, we must be on the tennis court until we win two sets, no matter if our opponent wins a set. Since if we reach the two sets won it will be enough (for example, 6-3 2-6 and 6-4).
However, if we play the best of 5 sets (as if it were a Grand Slam), we must win 3 sets, and that the opponent does not win us more than 2 sets. Leaving an example marker: 6-2 3-6 6-4 4-6 and 10-8.
So how long is a tennis match?
How I told you at the beginning, answering the question of how long a tennis match lasts is difficult to answer. In fact, it depends on the tournament and whether it is a male or female match.
For Grand Slams especially, the winner of the men’s tennis match is the best of five sets. So, if the match wins the winner in three consecutive sets, it can end as soon as two hours.
Five sets in a tennis match can last an average of up to 5 hours.
This also depends on the scores of the games of each set.
The longest game in the history of tennis was at Wimbledon 2010, in which the American tennis player John Isner faced the Frenchman, Nicolás Mahut.
The final score was: 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (7-9), 7-6 (7-3), 70-68
Having this lasting more than 11 hours.
Some tournaments are also played at the best of 3 sets, as I said before, so here the games are shorter.
The ladies matches are the best of three sets. These matches usually have a shorter duration. Average tennis match time is less than three hours. The longest game in women’s history was played in 1984 and lasted about 6.5 hours.
But the average time of women’s matches is not more than 2.5 hours.
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