Betting on tennis is in many ways simpler when compared to other sports, and the fact that it is second to football in popularity, tennis games are an important part in the betting industry. Nevertheless, if you haven’t placed any bets on tennis before, this guide will teach you all the basics of betting on tennis, explaining all the tennis betting options available with bookmakers, where to bet on tennis games and how to improve your predictions. Tennis betting is still a gambling activity, and therefore we recommend playing within limits and going through below notes to making better choices.
If you are new to tennis betting and looking just to place an occasional bet on this sport, reading this page will get you started as soon as you’re done with it. But even if you are a professional punter looking to make some money out of your tennis betting, we have created a complete guide which includes towards the end of this page many resources for improving your choices and money management strategies.
Tennis Betting Options – How to bet on Tennis
With tournaments nearly all year long, from ATP, WTA and ITF, there is no question why tennis is one of the popular betting choices among both punters and bookmakers. Having two participants in each game and no draw option, tennis is offering much simpler betting options.
Betting Odds Explained
UK punters tend to make use of fractional odds, under the format of 1/3, 5/3 and so on. We will take an example to better understand how these odds are used and calculate potential winnings. Placing a bet of ÂŁ10 on odds 1/3 will return ÂŁ3.33 profit (1 X ÂŁ10 / 3 = ÂŁ3.33), while on the other hand, if the bet is lost, you lose the stake of ÂŁ10. Placing the same bet on odds 5/3 will return a ÂŁ16.67 profit (5 X ÂŁ10 / 3). The profit here does not include the stake that is also returned if the bet is won.
Below we have included the simple math to be used with UK betting odds for calculating the potential returns:
betting odds X stake value = profit
potential return of winning bet = profit + stake value
potential loss = stake value (for the case your bet is lost)
These formulas can easily be applied to all available options for betting on tennis, as presented in the next lines:
Match Betting
Match betting (or 12 market) is the main betting market for any tennis meeting. This market allows users to bet on the outcome of the match (the winning player). The match betting applies to the result at the end of the match, where one player or the other is set as the winner. There is no time constrain here as in football, as tennis matches are played until a player reaches the number of winning sets.
In Match Betting, punters simply select a player’s name to back. With some bookmakers, the 12 notation may also be found, where 1 stands for the first player as listed in the meeting, while 2 stands for the second player.
Total Games Betting
Total Games betting is an Over/Under betting option, where bookmakers give a number of games for the tennis match and punters simply bet on the match to end with Over or Under that total number of games. Games are a sub-division in tennis sets, and the total number of games available for betting may be different from one match to another, and even from a tennis tournament to other.
For example, in the Over/Under 20.5 Games betting market, the selection of Over 20.5 games will be a winning bet if the tennis match ends with 21 or more games played. Depending on matches, there will be various Over/Under values besides the 20.5 total, such as 23.5, 30.5 and so on.
While the Total Games betting is considering all games during the match, punters will also find betting options on the number of games for a certain set (Set 1, Set 2, Set 3), and the betting would work the same as explained above.
Total Sets Betting
Total Sets betting is also an Over/Under betting option, similar to Total Games, but where punters bet on the number of sets to be played during a tennis match. The most common Over/Under value here is 2.5 Sets, where a Over 2.5 bet is considered a winning bet if there are a total of 3 or more Sets played during the tennis match.
The Over/Under 2.5 Sets market is the most common as the winning player needs to win 2 out of 3 sets; however in Men Grand Slam tournaments, the Over/Under value may be higher as male players will play up to 5 Sets in a match, as the winning player needs to win 3 out of 5.
Set Handicap Betting
The Set Handicap betting market is similar to Match Betting option, but where the players are given a handicap before the start of the match. Therefore, we may find here Player A to have a handicap of +1.5, while Player B to have a handicap of -1.5. This means that selecting a player with such a handicap to win should consider the value given in the total number of sets played during the match.
As an example, if the punter places a bet on Player A to win with a handicap of +1.5, and the match result is Player A 1 : 2 Player B, then the end result with the handicap added would be 2.5 : 2 for Player A. This would return a winning bet based on this handicap.
Game Handicap Betting
The Game Handicap betting market works the same as the Set Handicap betting. The difference here is however that the handicap value is added or subtracted to the number of games of each player rather than from sets.
Set Betting
The Set betting market is also known as correct score. Punters place their bets here on the Set score for the end of the match. For example, a bet on Player A to win with 2-0 is a winning bet if the match ends in 2-0.
Total Number of Tiebreaks Betting
Betting on the number of Tiebreaks is another Over/Under betting option found in tennis matches. A value of Tiebreaks is given by the bookmaker, and punters place their bets on whether the total number of Tiebreaks will be Over or Under that value.
Set Winner Betting
One other option on tennis matches is betting on the Set Winner. The selection is simple here as the punter needs to select the winner of a given Set among the two participating players.
Outright Betting
The Outright betting market is used to select the player to win a tennis tournament. Bets on Outright market can be placed even before the start of the tournament.
Betting on Tennis Online
For anyone considering betting on tennis, we found there are 2 main options to choose between: street-betting shops and online sportsbooks. Street-betting shops are still offering a quick and simple solution to users in some locations. However, Internet bookmakers have grown in popularity due to their different approach where punters can have an online account with funds and place bets anytime and from anywhere by using as little as a mobile smartphone. Furthermore, online bookmakers will also offer better odds value many times, along with bonuses and other promotional deals like free bets or cashback.
eBonusCode.co.uk is recommending here several top online bookmakers for tennis betting, along with any registration packages available for new players. Listed online betting agencies enjoy the trust of hundreds of thousands of players as they have been operating for many years and proved their fairness and stability. Even more, all of these betting websites are licensed by the UK Gaming Commission to offer betting services to users in the UK.
 Bet365.co.uk |
 Unibet.co.uk |
 WilliamHill.com |
You may also be interested in checking the betting reviews and ratings from other users which already used played at these bookmakers.
How to Register Online Betting Account
Registration with any of these online betting agencies for placing bets on tennis and many other sports is straightforward. Simply follow the below steps for a quick start:
- Choose a bookmaker from the list recommended above and click to view their offers and visit their website
- Signup for an account – when you have reached their website, click the “Register Now” button
- As soon as the registration form is launched, fill it in with your details. Details should be correct as these will be used to access your account, deposit betting funds or withdraw your winnings.
- Once the registration was completed, you should be able to access your account. With some bookmakers however you will need to activate the account by following a confirmation link received in a welcoming email message after registration. Check your email inbox for that activation email (if you fail to see the email after a few minutes, it would be a good idea to check the Spam folder too).
- When you are authenticated on the betting site, you will be able to access various member sections within it. A deposit page will also be available, listing all deposit options and step-by-step field for funding your betting account.
- Choose a deposit option to fund your betting account. Each online bookmaker will offer your multiple deposit options, from bank cards to e-wallets and bank transfers. If you are also looking to get the welcome bonus, we recommend reading the bonus terms and conditions as there may be some restrictions on which deposit options can be used to release the bonus.
Place your bets – as soon as you managed to fund your betting account, you will be able to start betting. Browse the sports betting section of the online bookmaker, select Tennis from the sidebar menu or any other sport, select the match your want to bet on and click on the outcome / betting odds desired. The selection will be added to the betting slip. The bet slip will most likely be visible in the right side in the web browser. Check the selection in the betting slip, type in your stake (bet amount) and click the button “Place Bet” available in the betting slip.
Should you choose to get a welcome bonus with online sports betting sites, check for the turnover requirements mandatory to being able to withdraw any winnings. Check on the bookmaker for the full bonus terms.
Before any cash withdrawal can be processed, you will most likely be required to verify your account. This is nothing out of common as all users will undergo this verification at an earlier or later stage. The process of verification differs from one bookmaker to another, but it may include a quick phone call to confirm your details or ID verification (this will require you to upload on the bookmaker website some copies of documents like photo ID or utility bill to confirm details and address). There is no reason to raise red flags as this is standard procedure. Once the account is verified, you will be able to withdraw your winnings, deposit new funds and place more bets. The verification process is undergone one time per player account.
Sports betting and gambling can create addiction and lead to losses. For this reason, we remind you that each bookmaker will have self-exclusion options built in their system, which can limit how much money you can deposit or bet in a given period or forever should you feel at risk of problem gambling. Simply contact the bookmaker to discuss the options for restricting your betting activity.
Pre-Match vs Live Betting
One other advantage for online betting on tennis is the option to place bets both before the match and live. The pre-match betting is an option available with both street-betting shops and online bookmakers, while live betting is something available on online sportsbooks.
For in-play matches, the live betting option is the perfect choice for betting o matches as they unfold. Some bookmakers may also offer the option to watch the game online from within the betting account via a live streaming service. As markets are changing faster for in-play matches, live betting comes with some higher risks.
Tennis Predictions
When betting on tennis, some users may follow either their intuition or favorite odds for selecting the winner. In other cases, users may simply place a bet on a tennis player just because it would should their backing. None of these are the smartest choices, and that is why we recommend researching each tennis player and doing some Head-to-Head data comparison to make your own decision before placing any bet.
Checking for what various tipsters have to say on tennis matches is another option which should be combined with your own research. There are many free betting predictions and paid tips services for tennis matches. While there are many sources for betting tips, the final decision of placing the bet should still be you after weighting in some player statistics.
Betting tips services & resources:
- Free Tennis betting tips & Money management advice
Tennis Statistics
If you are considering betting on tennis, we are sure your already have some knowledge on players and tournaments. Nevertheless, checking some extra statistics that can help you identifying some tennis trends and probabilities for different tennis matches is highly recommended. Check TennisStats247.com for example as a source of daily tennis matches, live score, statistics and trends for tournaments from over the world, from ATP, WTA or ITF. The website has gathered and structured many stats and tennis details in a way that is easy to be used for identifying the best betting options on different matches.
Conclusions
If you read through this guide, you already have the basic info that can get you started with tennis betting. Having simple steps to follow, examples on betting odds and betting choices for tennis, options for online betting, this section answers the question of “How to bet on tennis?”, offering an effective start for any new tennis betting user.