How a tiebreak works

A tiebreak is a short race played at 6-6 to decide a set instead of playing on forever. Tennis and padel use exactly the same rules.

The count

• First to seven points wins the tiebreak and the set.
• You must win by two clear points. At 6-6 you play on: 8-6, 9-7, and so on.
• Points are counted normally — one, two, three — not 15, 30, 40.
• Whoever wins the tiebreak takes the set 7-6.

Who serves

1. The player due to serve next serves one point, from the right.
2. The opponent then serves two points, starting from the left.
3. Serve alternates every two points from then on, always starting from the left.
4. In doubles, the serving order within each pair carries over from the set.

The match tiebreak

Also called a super tiebreak or champions tiebreak: a race to ten points, again by two clear, played instead of a full deciding set. It is standard in doubles and in almost every club tournament.

Serving works the same way — one point, then two at a time — and you change ends every six points.

Why organisers love tiebreaks

A tiebreak caps the length of a set. Without one, 6-6 can turn into 12-10 and your afternoon schedule collapses. Adding a match tiebreak instead of a third set saves 20 to 30 minutes per match — the single biggest time saving available to a tournament organiser.

For everything else about counting, see how tennis scoring works and how padel scoring works.