A tennis match requires that a player win three of five sets to win the match. If a player wins the first two sets, what is the probability that the player wins the match, assuming that each player is equally likely to win each match?
A) 0.5
B) 1/8 or 0.125
C) 7/8 or 0.875
D) Cannot be computed.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

If a player wins the first two sets, they need to win only one more set out of the remaining three to win the match. The probability of winning at least one set out of three, given each set is independent and has a probability of 0.5, is 1 - (probability of losing all three sets) = 1 - (0.5)^3 = 7/8 or 0.875.

A Tennis Match Requires That a Player Win Three of Five