Tennis is ranked as the fourth most popular sport in the world for betting after American football, soccer and horse racing. It is not a surprise that all of the top Asian and European bookmakers have extensive sets of markets specific to it. And since there is no draw in any match, there are issues that punter should successfully tackle before making their activity as profitable as can be.
Just like any other option offered for betting, there are plenty of issues to be aware of and to study before getting involved into the world. As always, doing one’s homework is the most basic prerequisite. Let’s discuss on the facets:
Issues of importance
Before betting on any tennis match, you have to know the surface. While there are tennis players that are good in any surface, there are specialists that can change the perspective. The best example is Raphael Nadal. Or otherwise known as the «king of clay». There are other players that are far better on grass. The speed of the surface of a synthetic indoor court is also important. While most are classified as medium, there are some that are slow and some others that are fast. That aspect favors some players while others are placed on a disadvantage.
Other issues have to do with the prevailing weather conditions (some athletes do better on a humid environment as the pace of the ball is slowed down), the history of the contenders on the same field or the psychological advantage one opponent may have over another. The greatest example of this last aspect is the head-to-head between Djokovic and Tsitsipas. The Greek is ranked above the Serbian in the ATP rankings (4 vs 5) but the record between the two reads 10-2 in favor of Nole.
Market correlations
Understandably, the odds are based on the three elements of the sport. Points, games, sets. The standard markets are the usual: outrights, moneylines, winner. There is no 1X2 offer or double chances. Correct scores refer to the total number of sets played. However, the vast majority of the markets are over/under, odd/even and handicaps on two levels. The first is associated with the games that each player will win, while the second is associated with the points.
Deeper markets have to do with the aces that will be served, the number of breaks of serve each opponent will manage to achieve, the number of service holds (the player who serves wins the game), unforced errors, unreturned serves that were not aces and every other piece of statistic that you can see if you watch any ATP tour match on TV.
Sport specific bets
There is no point in elaborating here as 95% of the markets offered fall under that category due to the different nature of the sport in relation to the rest. Outrights refer to the winner of an ATP tournament (Roland Garros, Wimbledon, etc…) while there is always an offer for:
- players that manage to achieve Grand Slams (win all four major tournaments)
- the top 8 that will make to the Nitto ATP Finals at the end of the year for men, or the WTA Finals for women
- the most improved player of the year
- the most successful comeback of the year
- the best newcomer of the year
Perhaps the greatest of the appeals that tennis offers its fans is the sportsmanship and the honorable behavior of the players that extends to the fans who keep themselves within limits and out of the riots that we tend to see in other team sports. In any case, placing wagers on this sport offers enough of an incentive to punters to register for a betting account via agent .