Padel uses the 15-30-40 scoring system because official padel rules inherit the traditional scoring format from tennis. This unusual counting system dates back hundreds of years to medieval French handball game jeu de paume, the ancestor of tennis.

The most widely accepted theory is based on the clock face:

Each game was treated as a full 60-minute cycle on a clock dial. Every point moved the clock hand 15 minutes forward:

1st point = 15

2nd point = 30

3rd point originally = 45

4th point = 60 (win the game)

Over time, players shortened "45" to "40". It was easier for referees to call out during noisy matches and created smoother spoken rhythm alongside “fifteen” and “thirty”.

There is no modern mathematical logic behind these numbers — it is purely preserved sporting tradition.

Zero points is called “love”, also originating from old French l’oeuf, meaning egg, which resembles the shape of number 0.

One important reminder:

While padel keeps the classic 15-30-40 game scoring, many commercial padel clubs adopt the Golden Point rule at 40-40 (deuce) to shorten match time and improve court turnover.