Why Does ‘Love’ Mean ‘Zero’ in Tennis?

The first Wimbledon championships were held in 1877. They featured a field of 22 men, who were advised to bring their own racquets and to wear “shoes without heels.” The balls were hand-sewn, with a flannel casing. The racquets were made of wood and looked distinctly like snowshoes. 

The event was so successful that a women’s championship was added seven years later. First prize for the ladies was a silver flower basket, valued at 20 guineas. 

Fast forward about a hundred years. In 2018, the winner of the women’s tournament, Angelique Kerber, took home 2.25 million pounds (that’s about 2.8 million US dollars). Her racquet was made of a carbon-graphite compound originally developed for use in space flight. And the balls she played with had to match international standards dictating their mass, size, deformation, and rebound. 

In other words, things have changed.

One thing that hasn’t changed though is the weird scoring system used in tennis.

'Love' Means 'Zero' Because … Eggs?

Let’s start with “love” — the word that means “zero” in tennis.

When a match starts, the score is zero-zero; in the tennis world, that’s called “love all.”

There are a couple of theories on why. One is that the number zero has an oval shape, just like an egg. The French word for “egg” is “l’oeuf.” Say “l’oeuf” five times fast, and it starts to sound like “love.” L’oeuf, l’oeuf, l’oeuf, l’oeuf, l’oeuf.

Seems like a bit of a stretch, until you consider the fact that we also call “zero” on a scoreboard a “goose egg.” Sports fans have been saying this since at least 1867 … about the time the first tennis matches were being played. 

'Love' Means 'Zero' Because … the Love of the Game?

Another theory is related to the expression “to play a sport for love,” as opposed to playing for money. This refers to the practice of playing a competitive game simply for the fun of it, not because you might win a prize.

In other words, just for the love of the game, you’d accept a score of love, and keep on playing.  

This explanation is suggested but not verified by the Oxford English Dictionary.  The OED also notes that “love” has been used for centuries to mean “zero” in other games, such as bridge and whist, the card game from which bridge is derived.

15, 30, 40 … What?

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