Padel scoring rules: points, tie-breaks and Star Point

Padel scoring has three levels: points win games, games win sets, and sets decide the match. The score inside a game goes love, 15, 30 and 40. What happens at 40-40 depends on the format: advantage, Golden Point or Star Point.

Check which deuce rule applies before playing. It determines whether a game can continue through repeated advantages or ends with a deciding point.

How to count points in a padel game

The LTA's scoring overview explains the usual progression:

• No points: love.
• One point: 15.
• Two points: 30.
• Three points: 40.
• Win another point while the other pair has 30 or fewer and you win the game. At 40-40, use the selected deuce rule.

Call the serving pair's score first, as specified in FIP's scoring announcements. If the servers have won two points and the receivers one, the call is 30-15. The game score in the set is a separate count.

Advantage, Golden Point or Star Point?

At 40-40, called deuce, use the method selected for your match:

• Advantage: win a point to gain advantage, then win the next to take the game. Lose the advantage point and return to deuce. FIP Rule 1 allows this cycle to continue until a pair wins two consecutive points.
• Golden Point: play one deciding point immediately at deuce. Its winner wins the game. The FIP announcement tables distinguish this from advantage scoring.
• Star Point: play the first advantage chance. If the game returns to deuce, play a second advantage chance. If that also returns to deuce, the next point decides the game. FIP's Star Point explanation describes this sequence.

A Star Point game, point by point

Your pair reaches deuce in a Star Point game:

• You win: first advantage to your pair.
• You lose: second deuce.
• Your opponents win: second advantage to them.
• You win: third deuce. The next rally is the Star Point.
• The pair winning that rally wins the game.

Count the advantage chances across the whole game. Both can go to the same pair. If either pair wins the point immediately after gaining advantage, the game ends there.

FIP introduced Star Point for Premier Padel, CUPRA FIP Tour, FIP Promises and FIP Beyond in 2026. That does not mean every club match uses it. The LTA's May 2026 organiser guide makes it mandatory for Grades 1 and 2 and optional for Grades 3 to 5, so check the rules for your event.

Who receives the deciding point?

Under FIP Rule 1, the receiving pair chooses the right or left service side for Golden Point and Star Point. They cannot swap their established receiving positions for that point. In mixed matches, the receiver must be the same sex as the server, so that restriction determines the receiving side.

For the mechanics of the serve and return, use our separate padel serve guide and return-of-serve guide.

Games, sets and tie-breaks

The LTA overview describes the usual best-of-three-sets match. A standard set needs six games with a two-game lead. At 5-5, 7-5 can finish the set; at 6-6, the usual tie-break is first to seven points, with a two-point lead. The set score becomes 7-6.

For example, 6-5 in games is not yet a completed standard set. At 6-6 in a seven-point tie-break, 7-6 in points is not enough either: 8-6 would finish it.

Some formats replace the deciding set with a match tie-break. The FIP Beyond rulebook describes a ten-point match tie-break won by two points and allows format variations. A ten-point decider at 9-9 therefore continues until a pair leads by two. Confirm the target and the event format before starting.

Agree the format before the first serve

• Which deuce rule applies: advantage, Golden Point or Star Point?
• How many sets are played, and when does a set tie-break start?
• Is the decider a full set or a match tie-break, and what is its target?

Note the format alongside your score before play, while everyone can check it. If you use Racketly to record the match, our getting-started guide explains the tracking workflow; check the available settings against the format you agreed.