What Does “Love” Mean in Tennis?

In tennis-speak, “love” = zero. A score like 40–love means one player has 40 points and the other has... absolutely none.

So where did it come from? Probably the French word l’œuf (which means “egg” — aka zero, shaped like an oval). Over time, English speakers turned l’œuf into love, and the term stuck.

Is that 100% confirmed? Not really — linguists still debate the origin. If you're curious, here’s a deeper dive on the mystery.

👂 Where You’ll Hear It

“He’s up 30–love”
Translation: He’s won the first two points of this game and is now just two away from closing it. The opponent hasn’t scored a point yet.

“She broke to love”
Translation: She won the game while returning serve and didn’t lose a single point — a clean, ruthless break. (Rare. Impressive.)

“He held serve to love”
Translation: The server won all four points in the game, and the returner got zero. Basically a statement service game.

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