Tennis is one of the most popular sports for betting. Despite the fact that there are no draws, in other words, only two outcomes are possible, predicting the winner of a match is not always easy.
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The main types of tennis betting
The depth of betting on tennis matches depends on the status of the tournament. Moreover, even in local tournaments the top bookmakers offer to bet on the winner of the match, the handicap, game or set totals, and the exact score. These are all standard betting odds, which we have already mentioned earlier.
Also bookmakers offer betting on the following markets:
- Double faults – situations in which the serving tennis player fails to serve twice in a row.
- Aces – serves in which the opponent fails to touch the ball in time.
- Breaks are serves won on another player’s service.
- Tie-breaks are extra games to determine the winner of a set when each player wins six games.
Each of the above tennis marquees can be total or individual, for the whole match or a specific set.
In-play tennis betting
Many professional bettors prefer to bet on tennis matches during the match. This allows you to assess the current strengths of your opponents, watch the course of the match live and, taking into account the pre-match analysis, make a plus bet with the bookmaker.
Live tennis betting has one big disadvantage – high speed of changing odds and closing certain markets. Moreover, some bookmakers broadcast the game with a delay of several seconds.
Pre-match analytics
In any sport, no matter if it is tennis, football, hockey, basketball or martial arts, it is important to choose the event and the potential outcome wisely.
Form
To find out a player’s current form, watching 2 or 3 of each player’s last match is enough. Take into consideration how long ago these matches were played.
Tennis Player Statistics
Aside from the results of recent games, it is important to analyze the percentage of wins and losses on the first and second serves. You should also look at the statistics of games on your own serve. This is especially relevant when betting on a weaker player. Taking these indicators into consideration will help determine the ability and length of opposition to the favourite.
Face-offs
In individual sports special attention should be paid to the “comfort” of the opponent. Often even the top-ranked tennis players have a hard time against a lower ranked player. Pay attention to your style of play, forehand, serve, average number of errors, etc.
Court surface
The type of court surface determines the speed of the bounce. On clay, for instance, the ball bounces high and slowly, slightly negating the importance of the serve and increasing match time. On clay, the more technically and emotionally stable players have the edge. On grass, a low, fast bounce gives a nominal advantage to players with a solid serve and a quick approach to the net. Hard is another type of hard surface, which is characterised by a fast bouncing ball. But not as fast as on grass. Some tournaments are held on carpet courts, e.g. the Kremlin Cup. As a rule, the surface is softer than on hard court, which means the speed is slower.
Motivation
The cheering in the stands, a potential rise in the standings, qualification for the finals, handsome prizes – all these put pressure on a player to run faster to the net, to reach for the ball. All other things being equal, the degree of motivation is decisive in determining the outcome.
Rating
A professional tennis player earns a certain number of personal ranking points for each successful performance in a tournament. A high ranking position gives a player the status of a seeded player, which makes it easier for them to move up the table at a given tournament.
Tennis Betting Strategies
It is impossible to win in tennis betting without an efficient strategy. There are many working algorithms for determining the most passable outcome. However, before placing real money bets, it is a good idea to test your chosen strategy with a demo account or simply record the results in an Excel spreadsheet.
Playing a tie-break game
As mentioned in the video, on fast courts and in a game of equal strength tennis players, there is often an extra shortened game – a time-break. If one of the athletes has a stronger serve, it is logical to assume victory.
Failure of the first set
This strategy is suitable for matches in which one of the players loses the first set by a huge margin, and the winning player serves. With a score of 5-0 or 5-1, the loser will not grab for a win in this part of the game – he should think about his actions for the next set.
Advantages and disadvantages of tennis betting
The advantages of betting on tennis matches include:
- The multiplicity of tournaments and the regularity of the tournaments. There is only one big break in tennis – at the beginning of the calendar year. But even in those couple of weeks there are a few mid-level tournaments on which you can bet.
- Availability of information for analysis. It is not a problem to look at recent games of tennis players, their current ranking, history of face-offs.
- Relative ease of analysis. In contrast to team sports, individual performance of one sportsman is easier to analyse. It is worth bearing in mind that the psychological state of a tennis player or his level of motivation is known only on the court, while substitutions, as in team sports, are not.
- A wide range of betting odds at the BK. Bets on tennis are among the top 3 most popular sports in betting. Bookmakers offer not only basic marquets, but also betting on statistics, double outcomes.
If we talk about the disadvantages of betting on tennis tournaments, it should be noted high dependence on weather conditions. A bet can “hang on” for a few days, until the end of a rainstorm in a conventional Birmingham. Also note that the grip of trainers on the grass surface is significantly worse after rain.