Whether for keeping myself in shape or merely convincing myself I’m doing so, I try to play tennis every once in a while, even though my high school tennis career has come to a close. As I watch the U.S. Open on TV and the likes of Nadal, Federer, Serena, and Azarenka (shrieker), I’ve started to notice how strange the tennis scoring system is. I’ll be honest, I’ve always wondered how the scoring system came to be; its inception was probably not a ten minute conversation by the cavemen wielding wood paddles for racquets and dried poop for balls.. 

Consider the score 7-6, 0-6, 6-3. The winner has 13 games while the loser has 15. Curiously, a player can still lose a match even if he(/she) had more games under his belt (and points as well). I’ve seen differences as drastic as a 7 game lead by the loser. So, why…