The Diabolical Scoring System of Tennis

What makes the scoring system in tennis diabolical?

The tennis scoring system is different from most other sports. It uniquely increases the stress of competition, because throughout the match some points are substantially more important than others. In fact this system is diabolical.

In other sports the score is generally cumulative throughout the contest, and whoever has the most points at the end wins. In baseball, for example, you simply keep adding up the runs, and the winning team is the one that has the most after 9 innings. It’s very straightforward.

Football, soccer, and basketball are essentially the same except that the game is over when time runs out. Still, each team just keeps adding up their points. Even golf is the same except the numbers are backwards. The winning player has fewer points (strokes) than the others.

Of course there is a great deal of pressure in all sports if the scores are close toward the end of the contest, but none are as continuously stressful as tennis.

Consider the situation in tennis. Say are playing a close set, say you are up 5-4 and you reach game point. There is a huge swing in the match if…