Betting on tennis has become very popular in the past few years, and that is mostly because of the TV’s coverage of tennis and possibly because there are only two possible outcomes when talking about placing wagers on tennis. It runs the whole year from January to the end of November with the WTA and ATP Tours. It is not at all surprising that most of the bookmakers in tennis offer a massive range of match options. However, for you to place a successful bet with a chance of winning, like in every other sports event, you first need to understand basic bet types. This article will cover everything you need to know about placing bets in tennis.
Match Winner Markets: since these are the simplest bets, most of the gamblers prefer placing wagers on this bet. To put it simply, here you will be betting that one of the tennis players will win this round and advance to the next round. When you bet on the favored player and you win the bet, you will get less money than if you would to win a bet on the underdogs. However, online bookmakers have different ways (betting rules) when it comes to how should they settle the bets on a certain game if the matches are not fully completed because of the players retirement. It is very important for you to pay attention to the rules of every bookmaker so you can choose the one with the right policy.
Handicap Markets: this bet is valuable if you intend to bet on the player who is heavily favored over his opponent. The bookmakers will offer the handicap to oppose the difference in the player’s ability which will level out the match. The goal of the bookmakers is to make a handicap, that can also be called a line, which will give better chances for either of the players winning (when considering the handicap) as close to as 50%. To determine the outcome of the game and for the purpose of the bet, the handicap will be taken in account of the final score. This will basically mean that you will be betting on one of the tennis players to beat the other, but with a certain handicap applied.
What is great about these markets is that they can increase your winnings when you are placing a bet on the favorite that is expected to win and also they can make a profit from placing a bet on an outsider, without the need for that player to actually win that match just as long as their scores are close. There are 2 different handicap bets that can be related to betting on tennis matches, those are: Game Handicaps and Sets Handicaps.
Game Handicaps: usually one of the players, which will more frequently be the outsider, will receive few games advantages plus the handicap. This is done so that the differences in quality can be countered for both players. This handicap will be put into the final score, and it will determine the game’s outcome, for the bet. The player who won more matches with the handicap is going to be the winner of the bet, even if he did not win the game.
If there is such a scenario where the total number of games is being used for the handicap, then that handicap will be adjusted so that the final score will be able to result in a draw and both of the players could actually win the same number of games. If this happens, all of the bets will be canceled and you will be able to get your original wager back since there is no winner.
Sets Handicaps: this is another thing that the bookmakers will offer you, and just like the game’s handicaps it works in the same way, but it uses the number of the sets that are won by each of the players instead of the amount of the games.
For example, In the match between Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal if the online bookmaker offers odds of 1.730 on Murray (which is +1,5 sets) and 2,260 on Nadal (which is -1,5 sets), then if by any chance Nadal is the winner of the game by 7-6 6-2, then he will cover the handicap and all of the bets on him will be won.
Set Betting: with this wager you have to predict the exact outcome of the future tennis match, which will be based on sets won by each of the players. This is a good way if you want to boost your profit since you will usually be offered much better odds here than you would be offered on the winner of the match. Most of the tournaments will have the best-out-of-three-set matches, which means either the player will win 2:0 or 2:1.
Tournament Winner Markets: this is also called the outright winner betting, and this is where you are supposed to bet on the player or a team to win the whole tournament. Today, most of the online bookies will offer these markets. These wagers will also offer valuable betting opportunities together with the option to get some big winners since not like every tournament is going to be won by one of the largest contenders.
Parlays: are also called the accumulators, and in general, they are very popular bets for the beginners, since the favorites are always backed up to win. When you wager your money with the parlay bet there is that big excitement on making huge profits. If you want to win this bet you need to predict the all of the results of the matches that are included in the parlay, since otherwise you will lose the bet. The danger with these bets is that with each game that is added to the parlays you will be multiplying your winning potential and the bookmaker’s margins.
Other tennis bets would include: Tie Break in a Match, First Set Correct Score, First Set Winner.
With all of this said, there are a lot of ways to bet on tennis. Betting on individual matches is the most straightforward way of betting. With a match where both players are almost even in skills, they will have very similar odds.
For example, if Novak Djokovic had -205 and was against Andy Murray with +175. This could be a huge favorite for Novak since he is playing against, in this case, a less talented opponent, and he could be hugely favored up to -5000, and his opponent would go off at something like +1600. Spreads will usually be offered in matches like this, which will give a chance to the bettors to bet on Djokovic to be able to win in straight sets. Most tournaments would have wagers available on who is going to win the tournament.
Tennis Betting Strategies: Finding the upsets in the tournament win level can really be difficult since it is always (almost) going to be the better player that will win the major tournaments, after everything is already set and done. However, on the individual match level, if the bettors try to study these bets they will be able to make big profits, with either favorites or underdogs. One thing you should consider about tennis handicapping is the unique style of each player. A lot of beginner bettors would just look at the name of the player, and they would not look at how that player actually plays. For example, if we take in account that John Isner is a very good tennis player, because of his very powerful serve, he would be nearly unbeatable against a sub-par or average return game. However if he was to play against a great runner, then he would be vulnerable. You need to learn all of the weaknesses and strengths of all of the players, so you can determine which one of the players will win the game.
Surfaces are another important factor you must consider. Players like David Ferrer and Nadal are much better while playing on clay than they are while playing on any other surface. Just be sure you consider this before placing you bet, as well as the fitness. Tennis players always have some kind of an injury, and it will always be a helpful tip to look into their schedule to see if they are going to risk their bodies on any other week before the match. Players will, of course, be much fresher at the beginning of the year, and just have injuries build up as the year ends. Generally speaking, when a player has had a very long week for qualifying and making it to the semi – finals or jus the finals, then that player will have to travel a lot for the next week’s event and there is a good chance they will be very tired, so knowing this, will be very useful.
Playing conditions: this is another very important factor in the pre-match considerations will be the conditions. This will include the surfaces of the court, since like we said they are not the same. Some like to play on the clay-ish court while others do not. The grass is known to make some of the good players lose their game easily, for example; Nikolay Davydenko, Milos Raonic, and John Isner are known to not be very good players while playing on grass. While Andy Murray will be poor on a clay surface, and what is interesting to say that in his whole career he only once won against an opponent on a clay surface (back in 2009). Apart from the surface that the players will be playing on, the court’s speed also varies, although not so much as before.
The weather: like in every other sport that is held outside, this is one of the biggest factors that can affect the game and the players. The wind is the biggest enemy since it can play havoc with the tennis ball toss or even a high ball toss, and there will always be some good and bad wind players. A good example of this would be Andy Murray’s victory over Novak Djokovic and Tomas Berdych on 2012 US. Those were pretty unplayable conditions, but Murray used them in his advantages. If it is windy, then attacking players would often be disadvantaged since they would have that plan where they go close to the boundaries (where they would normally get closer). Roger Federer is a very good example for this, who is a very good player indoors, but he is also a good player in the windy weather, together with Petra Kvitova.
Head-to-heads: this is also an important factor since you must know how do players cope with some particular styles of play. So, if the player was to have a bad losing head-to-head record VS. someone like Isner John, it is worth for you to check somewhere else, with some other servers if the pattern continues. Since this would mean that one player just does not know how to play against the other.
Left-handers: it is important to know that lefties usually present a tricky and different kind of challenge for the right-handers, and it is a good advice for you to check out how do lefties and right-handers deal against each other. This is something that can easily be found on random sites, you just need to look it up.
In-Play betting: when you have finally analyzed all of this information you can decide how do you want things to develop from now. There are a lot of situations that can be triggered and it is important to take everything into account. There are some men who can also choke, as well as many other tennis players who usually struggle in situations like serving out. There are also the bathroom breaks and the injury time-outs, and players that are able to provide momentum shifts, which are exactly what you want to be looking for in-play since the players would often use them.
When all of this is said, you must understand that even if here you cannot really lose a great amount of money, there are some rules you should follow. These rules are usually full of the obvious things that you think you might have already considered but think twice:
– You should never bet if in any way it will affect your health. If you are a sore loser, there is no point for you to gamble, move on to something else.
– If you are using gambling to win money, then you must learn everything there is about that one certain sport you wish to bet on. Look at it as a job, and not as a hobby, since no business can be half-assed.
– Bet the same amount of money on every game. Set an amount of money you can afford to lose, and never place more money than that. Gamble responsibly.
– You should always know when is the time for you to just walk away. If you go on a losing streak, make a short break from gambling in general. The same goes if you go on a winning streak, do not think that just because you won few bets in a row you will suddenly get more lucky.
The most important thing to keep in mind is to look at betting as a game, or just a form of entertainment. A lot of bettors would get pissed off if you tell them anything along these lines, but it is true. If you do not intend to gamble full-time, which means as an actual job, then you should just gamble for fun. If you look at it as a hobby, then you should know that hobbies should be done for fun. Even if you are losing, it happens, do not dwell on it, and most of all never chase your losses. Be smart about the bets you make, and you will be able to make bigger profits. Know everything about the player you are wagering your money on as well as all of the other players that are in the game.
