Tennis is an Olympic sport originated in England in the late 19th century. Tennis is one of the spectator sports which attracts millions of viewers. The United States National Lawn Tennis Association is the oldest nationwide tennis organization in the world. It was formed in 1881 to organize and standardize the rules in competitions. The organization is now renamed as the United States Tennis Association. The sport is played throughout the year because of its classic tours and tournaments. The various events of tennis give rise to multiple bets.
Many professional tournaments are available in tennis like the US Open, Australian Open, Wimbledon and the French Open. Along with the wide range of tournaments, tennis also has multiple tiers of men’s and women’s tennis to choose from. With the WTA and the ATP tour events, numerous betting offers are provided by the bookmakers.
Types of Betting in Tennis
The betting in Tennis is categorized mainly into five. They are;
- Money line betting
- Handicap betting
- Outright betting
- Total games betting
- Match betting
Money line betting
In tennis, the money line betting is similar to the basketball money line betting. The odds are also calculated in the same method, with the profit value deducted from the initial wager. The payout for a specific bet on the underdog is comparatively higher than the bets placed on the favorites. Let us consider the following US odds represented example;
Federer (-110)
Nadal (+220)
If the bettor bets on Federer then he has to wage $110 to get $100 which is the favorite odds, whereas if the bet is on Nadal then the underdog gets $220 with $100 as an initial wage.
Handicap betting
A handicap betting is an interesting betting in tennis which is highly preferred by the bettors. The rules of this type of betting are simple and the payout is high if the selection is right. A bettor has to bet whether player A will win the tournament or the player B will bag the trophy. Handicapping is done by adding a (+) and (-) symbol to the odd values fixed for a player. Consider the four set play of Player A and Player B;
Player A (-6) 6-4, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4
The actual score of Player A is (23-18). By applying the odds we get, (23-24).
Player B (+6) 4-6, 3-6, 7-5, 4-6
The actual score of Player B is (18-23). By applying the odds we get, (24-23).
From the above example, if a bettor had bet on Player A then he might eventually lose the bet because the final score of Player B is higher than the final score of Player A. In the men’s matches at grand slams, the best of three matches are considered. In such a scenario, the handicap set betting is +1.5 and -1.5.
Outright betting
In an outright betting, a bookmaker targets an individual and places bets on him whereas an outright market offers bets on tournaments. The playoffs in tennis tournaments last for two weeks and hence a bettor has to hold on to his horses to see if his luck is favored or not. An outright betting gets even more difficult for grand slams as a player has to win seven matches to bag the silverware. Following are the examples of outright betting in tennis;
Dominic Thiem +2200
John Isner +3300
Grigor Dimitrov +2000
Similarly, every professional tennis player gets a fixed odd and the bettor has to choose the player with the better chances of winning the tournament.
Total games betting
The total games betting focuses mainly on the total number of games or sets played by a player. Unlike in handicap betting, the count of matches is taken into consideration. Before the match commences, the bookmaker fixes an over and under odd as to how many matches will be played and the corresponding underdog and favorite is fixed. Let us consider the Andy Murray vs Pete Sampras match as an example for the total games betting.
Under 2.5 (-190)
Over 2.5 (+145)
According to the odds fixed, if the bettor bets on the under odd then any one of the two players will have to win the match in straight sets 2-0. It can either be Murray or Sampras with the score of 2.5 or less than 2.5. If the odds are in his favor then he bags the total amount $100.
Match betting
Match betting lets you choose a single match and bet on it. Instead of betting on an entire tournament and wait for it to get ended, the match betting gives you an advantage of getting the payout soon. You will also be provided with two odds and you can either back player one or player two to win.
Apart from these types of betting, there are some advanced betting introduced for the profit of the bettor. They are listed below;
- Exact score betting
- In-play betting
- Winner of each quarter
- Winning section of the draw
Exact score betting
Are you confident of the margin of victory and the winner of the match? Perfect! Then you must opt for this type of betting because of the higher payouts. As the name suggests, the exact score betting demands the accurate score a player would make in an individual set. The choice of odds are left to you and you either win or lose based upon the player’s performance in the court. Consider the match between Rafael Nadal and Nick Kyrgios:
From the above predictions, a bettor has to select the exact score that might turn out by either Nadal or Kyrgios and place an initial wage.
In-play betting
One of the most advanced betting’s is the In-play betting which allows you to bet on an individual score, the final outcome of the game, the set’s score and of course the match’s final points. Generally, bets are placed before the beginning of the tournament or tour but by using the In-play betting a bettor gets the opportunity to predict the score during the match.
Winner of each quarter
We all have a favorite player and we expect them to win the match. Does your favorite player always win the trophy? Even if there is the slightest doubt on your favorite, then you can go with this type of betting by betting only on the winner of a quarter of the draw.
Winning section of the draw
The concept of seeding is used to segregate teams into two halves. The first two seeded teams are generally split into two. The other teams are seeded and separated randomly. Instead of predicting the winner of a tournament, bets are placed as to from which half of the draw the winner will come from.
