Tennis scoring has several nested levels: points build a game, games build a set and sets decide the match. The familiar fifteen, thirty and forty labels belong to the ordinary game's point score. The larger numbers beside each player usually show games or completed sets. Read the layers separately before deciding who is closest to winning.
Start with the current point score
A normal game uses love, fifteen, thirty and forty before the relevant winning or deuce procedure. The server's score is conventionally called first by the umpire. A television graphic may instead arrange scores beside each player's name, so identify the server indicator. Do not read forty as forty accumulated points across the match. It is a label for the current game's state, and it resets when that game ends.
Move outward to games and sets
The set score records games won in the current set, while completed-set columns preserve earlier results. A player can lead the current set after losing the previous one. The match format determines how many sets are needed to win. Singles, doubles and different event categories can have different provisions, so use the actual tournament rules. A small superscript beside a set score may identify tie-break points rather than another game or another set.
Use the server indicator as a practical cue
The server changes between ordinary games under the rules, and the order matters when interpreting a break of serve. A game won while receiving has a different tactical meaning from holding serve, although both add one game to the set score. Watch who begins the next game before assuming the graphic is reversed. In doubles, the serving order adds another layer, so follow the umpire and the current event's display rather than guessing from where a player stands during a changeover.
Follow one game through its reset
For a first viewing exercise, ignore the match history for a moment and track one ordinary game point by point. Then note which player's game total increases and how the point score resets. Repeat through the end of a set and observe the completed-set column. This makes the nested structure visible without memorizing every special format at once. If a tie-break or deciding-match format appears, treat it as a specific procedure rather than forcing its numbers into the ordinary fifteen-thirty-forty pattern.
Useful answers
Does forty mean the player has won forty points in the match?
No. It is a label within the current ordinary game. Total match points are a separate statistic.
Does winning the current set always win the match?
No. The required set total depends on the event and match category. Read the actual format and completed-set score.