Tennis is a popular sport played across the world either in major competition or for recreation and is ranked among the most exciting sports event after football. In modern punting, tennis betting is among popular the popular sports to bet on and despite this a small number of Nigeria based punters bet on the tennis market.
This article is aimed at changing your mind towards tennis by providing best tournaments to bet on and betting strategies, as well us bet types. Why bet on tennis markets in Nigeria? Well, there are a number of benefits of this sport to you the main include easy to find better odds in tennis than other popular events like football and the other benefit is the availability of world championship tournaments throughout the year.
The popular sports to bet in include the world tour organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) are two associations that are responsible for organizing tennis events in the world.
Basic rules in Tennis Betting
To understand how to bet on tennis you first need understand the basic rules used in scoring to get points among other sets of rules. In short the match begins at ‘love’ or zero. Below are some of the rules used to determine a score:
Scoring a tennis gives you 15 points, the second point double by 15 to give 30 points, the fourth point is different since the score point is 40 and is also the match point to win. If the scores are level during the event, they call it the “deuce” (40-40), if a player scores in the next serve its called an advantage and if score for the second consecutive time it’s a win but if he/she fails to use the advantage the game goes back to deuce until a match point is reached the next scoring player wins.
The other common method for deciding a score is the tiebreak system (a race to reach 7 points and like set each player has to win by two points. It’s different from the normal system in that it follows a particular patter normally (0,1,2,3,4…) and the order if serves is different. Matches are played over three to five sets. In women’s tennis, a best-of-three format is sometimes used, while in men’s tennis the same format is used for many ATP Tour events, but in grand slams, men play best of five sets in a match.
Officials responsible in Tennis Betting
In tennis there are two type of officials that enforce the rules during the match the line umpire and the chair umpire positioned between the center net who sits in a tall structure. The line umpires consist of about 9 officials responsible for calling the ball in or out of the line.
The chairman who sits in the elevated special structure and has set of responsibilities. Like keeping score, ensuring rules are followed by players and has the final say on all decisions.
Best Tennis markets to bet on
- The Grand Slams there are 4 types of grand slams in tennis: Australia open, the French Open, Wimbledon and the US open. The grand slam have 5 categories they include men’s & women’s singles, men’s & women’s doubles and mixed doubles (a man and woman playing in the same team).
- David cup & fed cup. Men face of in the David cup while women are left to battle it out in the fed cup.
- Olympic tennis. There are 5 events in the Olympics that is men’s & women’s singles, men’s & women’s double and mixed doubles similar to the grand slams.
Tips on Tennis Betting
There are 5 basic types for betting on Tennis matches
- Winner the most picked type since its generally straightforward, you only have to pick a favorite player to win. The odds are usually low compared to other markets.
- Outright winner the most difficult since your picking a winner before the tournament even starts and in order to win you player must win at least 7 or matches depending on the event. In short your picking a player to lift the cup and can be in the singles, double or mixed events.
- Handicap betting there are two types of handicap betting on sets and game handicaps. You can pick an individual player to finish a number of sets or games to win. They you decide if a player A or B to give the advantage usually number of points range between plus or minus depending on the advantage or disadvantages given that a player has to overcome to win.
- Over/under betting similar to the handicap option but different in that your placing a set to go over or under a given number. Usually 2.5 is the most considered range in to events and also some bookmakers offer this on either a single player or both. Good for betting in difficulty matches or finals.
- In play betting also known as live betting. This is simple to understand if you’re a regular gambler, in simple terms your watching the game in real time and also betting. Professional punters prefer this since they get an edge against the bookmaker and can be relatively convenient if you win.
Despite all this types of markets at your disposal, doesn’t necessarily mean you have to all of them, find a particular situation to use them and basically each time has a best moment to bet on you only need to use your experience gained on each betting type.
Betting strategy on Tennis Betting
In tennis there are some factors you should take into account when finding bet types they include:
- The surface find out types of court surfaces and their effect on play.
- Head-to-head. Check on previous meetings between players you may learn a thing or two.
- Player form. Sometimes players can be going through challenging times outside the court like a series of consecutive losses and so on take note of such players.
- Look at the statistics, is the player getting better or worse?
