In tennis, "love" means zero. The term is used to describe a lack of score in either points, games, or sets. The origins of the word "love" as a score are not entirely clear, but there are a few commonly held beliefs:
- The French word for egg is "loeuf," which sounds similar to "love" and is shaped like a zero.
- In Dutch and Flemish, the word "lof" means honor, so anyone struggling to score is still playing for honor.
- Tennis players are overly passionate, and those with zero points were still playing for the "love of the game" despite their losing score.
When starting a game or a set, a rational person would think "it's zero-zero," but in tennis, players say "love-love". When a player wins a point, the score is not 1-0 or one-zero, but rather 15-love. The point system in tennis is not linear, and the score progresses as follows: love (0), 15 (1), 30 (2), 40 (3), and deuce (tied at 3 points) .
