Even though i follow tennis quite closely for a long time now, i have no clue as to why the scoring system is so screwed up. Not anymore. I have done all the googling, and here are the results .
Tennis scoring has its origin in medieval numerology. The number 60 was considered to be a “good” or “complete” number back then, in about the same way you’d consider 100 to be a nice round figure today. The medieval version of tennis, therefore, was based on 60–the four points when 15, 30, 45 (which we abbreviate to 40) and 60, or game.
There’s a common misconception that the equally puzzling “love,” or zero, derives from the French l’oeuf, “egg,” or, by extension, goose-egg or zero. Actually, it comes from the idea of playing for love, rather than money–the implication being that one who scores zero consistently can only be motivated by a true love for the game.
Interesting.
Btw , Nadal won his first ever Australian Open today. Congrats Nadal ! Federer got really emotional at the presentation ceremony. No need to cry Roger, you gonna win many many more 
Pic source : Oliver Weiken / European Pressphoto Agency
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Sun, Feb 1, 2009
Sports