![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0_JS379077453.jpg\")
The term ‘love’ has left some tennis fans confused(Image: Elsa\/Getty Images)<\/p>\nThe origins of the tennis term \u2018love\u2019 explained as the US Open draws to a close with another meeting between the world’s top two players, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz<\/p>\n
09:50, 07 Sep 2025Updated 10:20, 07 Sep 2025<\/p>\n
The term ‘love’ has left some tennis fans confused(Image: Elsa\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
As a thrilling US Open<\/a> draws to a close, more casual tennis<\/a> fans may be wondering about the sport\u2019s quirky terminology and scoring system.<\/a> You don\u2019t need to be a tennis geek to know of its terms and rules, but you may not know why.<\/p>\n In particular, the phrase \u2018love\u2019, which applies to a player who hasn\u2019t scored a point in a game or a game in a set, has left many scratching their head. The origins of love as a score rest in the figure zero\u2019s resemblance to an egg.<\/p>\n In sport, it\u2019s common to refer to a nil or nought score as a \u2018duck\u2019 or goose egg. For instance, the term duck applies to a batter in cricket<\/a> who gets out without scoring a run. Also, the French word for egg is l\u2019oeuf, the pronunciation of which is close to the English \u2018love\u2019.<\/p>\n READ MORE: John McEnroe makes Novak Djokovic retirement prediction after worrying admission<\/a>READ MORE: US Open finalist’s dad died of sudden heart attack days before her 18th birthday<\/a><\/p>\n Another theory relates to the Dutch and Flemish word \u2018lof\u2019, which means honour. In other words, the player who hasn\u2019t scored is still playing for honour.<\/p>\n On a similar theme, a 6-0 scoreline in a set is often referred to as a \u2018bagel\u2019 or a \u2018doughnut\u2019 due to a snack\u2019s likeness to a zero. Tennis\u2019s unique language is unlikely to have been on the minds of this weekend\u2019s US Open finalists at Flushing Meadows.<\/p>\n The women\u2019s final was won by Aryna Sabalenka, the defending champion, who defeated Wimbledon<\/a> runner-up Amanda Anisimova 6-3 7-6 (3). Sabalenka is the first woman since Serena Williams won three successive US Open titles between 2012 and 2014 to successfully defend it.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, she has increased her tally of Grand Slams to four, having now added two New York triumphs to her pair of Australian Open trophies.<\/p>\n In the men\u2019s final, Carlos Alcaraz<\/a> and Jannik Sinner<\/a> will do battle again for supremacy within their historic rivalry. Never before in the open era have two men played each other in three grand slam finals in one season, but such is their dominance that it never really felt in question.<\/p>\n Since Sinner and Alcaraz played here in a dazzling quarter-final in 2022 that resulted in the US Open\u2019s latest ever finish, they have been on a collision course.<\/p>\n And, after an even more remarkable clash at the French Open that somehow went the way of Alcaraz,<\/a> Sinner gained revenge at Wimbledon to end a run of defeats against the Spaniard.<\/p>\n Now it is all on the line in New York, with the winner not just taking the lead in slam finals between them but also ending the week as world<\/a> number one. Sinner said: \u201cI love these challenges.<\/p>\n \u201cI love to put myself in these positions. He\u2019s someone who pushed me to the limit, which is great, because then you have the best feedback you can have as a player.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Aryna](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1_2025-US-Open-Day-14.jpg\")
Aryna Sabalenka after winning a second successive US Open crown(Image: ISI Photos via Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"Carlos](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0_JS380015892.jpg\")
Carlos Alcaraz saw off Novak Djokovic to book another final meeting with Jannik Sinner (Image: Al Bello\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n