The top 5 most popular betting markets on tennis

The top 5 most popular betting markets on tennis

Stanislas Wawrinka US Open
Autor betsonly 19 Sep 2017 por Steven Pisano

How to bet on tennis? Let's begin with the most common and popular forms of tennis betting: match winner, handicap betting, set betting, total games...

Tennis betting is second only to football in terms of worldwide popularity, with billions of dollars bet on this sport annually. There is one simple reason for this – there is a tennis match being played somewhere in the world, almost every day and in every time zone, with tournaments taking place regularly. This means there is nearly always a tennis match on which you can bet, either from the WTA Tour, ATP Tour or the “feeder” leagues like ATP Challenger Tour and Futures tournaments.

For those wanting to bet on tennis, the 5 most popular betting markets on which they might consider staking are Match Winner; Set Betting; First (or subsequent) Set Winner; Handicap; and Total Games. In this basic tennis betting guide, we want to share tips to bet on one of the most popular sports in the world.

Match Winner

As the name implies, this is simply a bet on which player will win the match. As with any form of betting on a single game, it can be difficult to make money betting on a heavy favourite, because the odds will be very short. For those who do choose to bet on a hot favourite, it is recommended that they consider making a parlay bet, instead of a straight wager on the outcome, to increase their chances of making a decent return.

Set Betting

With set betting, you are wagering on the number of sets in a match, and the correct score – for example, Roger Federer to beat Tomas Berdych by three sets to love, or Simona Help to overcome Johanna Konta by two sets to one. Again this is not always as predictable as may appear on paper. One player could be theoretically strong but, because of injury, or the wear and tear inflicted by playing on tour, the outcome of a match could be closer than first expected.

First (or subsequent) Set Winner

There are many ways of betting on the outcome of individual sets, and many online bookmakers allow you to choose which player will win the first, second or third sets. "Set betting" market works on a similar principle to match betting with the differentiation that you are betting on the outcome of one set and not the whole match. However, as with match betting, supporting a heavy favourite will not get you high profits.

Handicap Betting

Handicap betting is a way that online bookmakers choose to even the odds by handicapping the favourite with a number of games or sets. The favourite has to beat their handicap for the bet to be won. For example, if Rafael Nadal was expected to beat David Goffin, and was given a game handicap of -3.5, then a bet on a 6-4.6-4 victory would still win. This is because the total number of games won by Nadal with his handicap (12 – 3.5 = 8.5) would still be greater than the number of games won by Goffin (8).

Total Games

Total Games betting is also known as overs and unders. With this bet, you are wagering on the total number of games which will be played in a tennis match. The bookmaker will predict a number and you'll bet on whether the games played will be either greater (over) or lower (under) than that number. So, if you predict a close match you may bet over, or if you expect a one-sided encounter, under.