# Law 7: Score in a Match (ITF Rules of Tennis)

Tennis · Law 7: Score in a Match · Insporta Book (https://book.insporta.app/tennis/laws/law-7-score-in-a-match/)

How a match is decided: best of three or best of five sets, and the match tie-breaks and final-set tie-break that Appendix VI allows in place of a long deciding set.

## 7.71 Score in a Match

Best of three and best of five, match tie-breaks that replace a final set, and the 10-point final-set tie-break.

### Test 1: Best of three and best of five

- Two sets out of three win the match. (Source: ITF Rules of Tennis 2026, Rule 7)
- A player needs a majority of the five sets. (Source: ITF Rules of Tennis 2026, Rule 7)
- The fifth set decides it, unless a match tie-break has been chosen instead. (Source: ITF Rules of Tennis 2026, Rule 7)
- In best of three it is one set all; in best of five, two sets all. (Source: ITF Rules of Tennis 2026, Appendix VI (Match tie-break))
- One tie-break game decides the match instead of a full final set. (Source: ITF Rules of Tennis 2026, Appendix VI (Match tie-break))
- Like a standard tie-break, it needs seven points and a two-point lead. (Source: ITF Rules of Tennis 2026, Appendix VI (Match tie-break))
- It takes the place of the third set. (Source: ITF Rules of Tennis 2026, Appendix VI (Match tie-break))
- Each score adds one more set played. (Source: ITF Rules of Tennis 2026, Rule 7)
- With the sets shared, the tie-break stands in for the third set. (Source: ITF Rules of Tennis 2026, Appendix VI (Match tie-break))
- The leader needs one more set; if the other side wins it, a fifth follows. (Source: ITF Rules of Tennis 2026, Rule 7)

### Test 2: Match tie-breaks and the final set

- First to ten, and two points clear. (Source: ITF Rules of Tennis 2026, Appendix VI (Match tie-break))
- A 120-second set break comes before the match tie-break. (Source: ITF Rules of Tennis 2026, Appendix VI (Match tie-break))
- Balls should not be changed before the match tie-break, even if due. (Source: ITF Rules of Tennis 2026, Appendix VI (Match tie-break))
- Service order carries on as if the match continued. (Source: ITF Rules of Tennis 2026, Appendix VI (Match tie-break))
- Within a team, serving and receiving order may be changed as at a new set. (Source: ITF Rules of Tennis 2026, Appendix VI (Match tie-break))
- It is played inside the final set, once it reaches 6-6. (Source: ITF Rules of Tennis 2026, Appendix VI (Final set tie-break))
- A match tie-break replaces the final set; a final-set tie-break ends one that reached 6-6. (Source: ITF Rules of Tennis 2026, Appendix VI (Final set tie-break))
- A set break, then service continues in the original order. (Source: ITF Rules of Tennis 2026, Appendix VI (Match tie-break))
- The fifth set is played out to 6-6 before the tie-break. (Source: ITF Rules of Tennis 2026, Appendix VI (Final set tie-break))
- Ten points is not enough at 10-9; it continues until one side leads by two. (Source: ITF Rules of Tennis 2026, Appendix VI (Match tie-break))

Sources: ITF Rules of Tennis 2026, Rule 7 with Appendix VI (paraphrased in original wording; original questions authored from the Rules, not reproduced)

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