If you are new to tennis betting and are looking to understand what betting markets mean and everything else associated with tennis betting markets, we have it all explained to you below.
For starters, what exactly is a tennis betting market?
Tennis Betting Markets – A Definition
Tennis betting markets encompass a wide range of options or opportunities for individuals to place bets on various aspects of tennis matches.
Bookmakers offer these plethora of markets along with the respective tennis odds to bettors and instead of predicting just the winner of a match or a tournament, these tennis betting markets allow individuals to wager on specific outcomes or occurrences within a tennis match.
Each market represents a different scenario or aspect of the match on which bettors can place their bets. For example, markets may include predicting the number of sets won by a player, the total number of games played in a match, or whether a tiebreak will occur.
What these markets do is to allow bettors a flexibility and the chance to bet on specific outcomes that they believe will occur during a match, rather than solely focusing on predicting the overall winner.
For instance, in a Wimbledon match between Novak Djokovic and a qualifier, you know that the Serb is going to cruise to a victory and you would probably get 1/100 odds for him to win it. However, there could be some betting markets which could even this out a little to make the bet a little more attractive to the tennis punter.
Understanding and exploring the various markets available in tennis betting, therefore, allow bettors to tailor their bets to their preferences and strategies, potentially enhancing their overall betting experience and opportunities for profit.
Below, we have an exhaustive list of the tennis betting markets that are on offer from the various bookmakers around the world.
Types of Tennis Betting Markets
Even before we get into the explanation of each of the tennis betting markets, here’s an exhaustive list of these markets available across the length and breadth of bookmakers around the world. We will keep updating this list.
- Match Winner (Moneyline)
- Set Betting/Correct Score
- Game Handicap
- Set Handicap
- Total Games
- Total Sets
- Set Winner
- Set Score (Exact Score)
- Set Total Games
- Game Total
- Tournament Outright Winner
- Set Total Points
- First Set Winner
- First Set Score
- First Set Total Games
- Tiebreak in Match (Yes/No)
- Tiebreak in Set (Yes/No)
- Player to Win a Set (Any)
- Player to Win Both Sets (Yes/No)
- Player to Win All Sets (Yes/No)
- To Win At Least One Set
- Player to Win First Game of Match/Set
- Total Breaks of Serve
- Total Double Faults
- Total Aces
- Player Total Aces
- Player Total Double Faults
- Game Score after X Points (e.g., 15-0, 30-15)
- Exact Game Score (e.g., 40-30)
- Total Points Played in Match/Set
- Total Games in Each Set (e.g., Over/Under 9.5 games in Set 1)
- Player to Win Most Games in Match
- Player to Win Most Aces
- Player to Win Most Double Faults
- Player to Serve First in Match/Set
- Player to Break Serve First in Match/Set
- Fastest Serve Speed
- Longest Rally
- Total Tiebreaks in Match
- Time of First Break of Serve
- Time of First Ace
- Match Duration (Over/Under)
- Next Point Winner
- Next Game Winner
- Set Score in Points (e.g., 30-0, 40-15)
- Set Margin (e.g., Player A to win Set 1 by 2 games)
- Odd/Even Total Games in Set/Match
- Player Specials (e.g., Player A to win in straight sets)
- Total Games Odd/Even
- Winning Margin (by how many games)
- Total Service Games
- Player to Win a Game to Love
- Player to Win a Game to 15/30/40
- Player to Win a Deuce Game
- Player to Win a Love Game
- Total Deuces in Match/Set
- Player to Win the First Break of Serve
- Player to Win the Last Break of Serve
- Player to Win a Specific Game Number (e.g., Game 5)
- Total Points in a Game
- Player to Win the Most Service Points
- Player to Win the Most Return Points
- Player to Win the Most Points in a Set
- Player to Win the Most Points in a Match
- Total Service Breaks
- Total Return Breaks
- Total Breaks in a Set
- Total Breaks in a Match
- Total Unforced Errors
- Total Winners
- Total Forehand Winners
- Total Backhand Winners
- Total Net Points Won
- Total Passing Shots
- Total Drop Shots
- Total Sets Won in Straight Sets
- Total Sets Won after Losing the First Set
- Total Games Won in Straight Sets
- Total Games Won after Losing the First Set
- Total Tiebreaks Played
- Total Tiebreaks Won
- Total Break Points Saved
- Total Break Points Converted
- Total Games won to Love
- Total Games won to 15/30/40
- Total Games won on Deuce
- Total Matches Won in Straight Sets
- Total Matches Won after Losing the First Set
- Total Matches Won in Tiebreaks
- Total Matches Won from a Set Down
- Total Matches Won from a Break Down
- Total Matches Won from Match Point Down
- Total Matches Won in a Specific Tournament/Year
- Total Matches Won against Left/Right-Handed Opponent
- Total Matches Won on Different Surfaces (e.g., Hard Court, Grass, Clay)
- Total Matches Won in Indoor/Outdoor Conditions
- Total Matches Won by a Certain Margin (e.g., 2 sets to 1)
- Total Matches Won by Retirement/Default
- Total Matches Won by a Bagel (6-0)
- Total Matches Won by a Breadstick (6-1)
There might be a few more such tennis betting markets but this list will give you a fair idea about how things operate. If you have any specific market you need to have an idea about, you can message us in the comments section.
Below, we will explain some of the main ones from the list above.
Match Winner (Moneyline)
This is as straightforward as it can get. It consists of betting on who will win that particular singles or doubles tennis match. Odds are offered for one of two winners unlike in a sport like football or a Test match where more than two results are possible.
Here’s an example of match winner odds on offer at different bookmakers (according to OddsChecker.com). It is a Houston Open match between Frances Tiafoe and James Duckworth where the former starts off a favourite according to all the below mentioned bookmakers.
Set Betting
This is the second most common type of betting market in tennis in which bookmakers offer odds for the exact set scoreline.
So, in a best of three match between Player A and B, which is the case in almost every men’s and women’s competition except men’s singles at Grand Slams, odds are offered for Player A to win two sets to love (2-0), Player A to win two sets to one (2-1), Player B to win two sets to love and Player B to win two set to one.
In the example above of this match between Tiafoe and Duckworth, the odds on offer for these four scenarios are as follows:
- Tiafoe to win 2-0: 5/6
- Tiafoe to win 2-1: 3/1
- Duckworth to win 2-0: 6/1
- Duckworth to win 2-1: 13/2
Game Handicap
Handicap betting in sports in general and tennis in particular is one of the more interesting ways to ensure there is parity between two players who otherwise might not be evenly matched.
In Games Handicap betting, it’s a contest about how many games will a player win in comparison with the other. So, for instance, in the above Tiafoe vs Duckworth encounter, we could have Tiafoe going into the match at a Games Handicap of -3.5 (with odds of 5/6) and Duckworth could be at +3.5 (odds of 5/6).
If one bets on Games Handicap Tiafoe -3.5, it implies that Tiafoe should win at least four games more in total than his opposition for the tennis bettor to win his bet. Similarly if the punter bets on Duckworth +3.5, then he is relying on him winning this games match-up if 3.5 games are added to the total games Duckworth has won.
Let’s assume a tennis punter has bet on Duckworth +3.5 games. What would be the result of his bets for the following four scenarios:
- Tiafoe wins 6-4, 7-5: This means Tiafoe has won 13 games in the match to his Duckworth’s eight and even if we add 3.5 games to Duckworth’s total games won, Tiafoe would still be ahead on games won. This means the punter loses his bet.
- Tiafoe wins 7-6, 7-5: In this case, Tiafoe has won 14 games to Duckworth’s 11. Add the handicap of 3.5 games and Duckworth makes it to 14.5 games, which means the punter wins this bet.
- Duckworth wins 7-5, 6-4: This is a straightforward case. Duckworth has 13 games to his name to Tiafoe’s 9 and that by itself is enough to win the punter this bet.
- Duckworth wins 7-6, 0-6, 7-6: In this case, Duckworth has 14 games to his kitty while Tiafoe is on 18. So, while Duckworth wins the match, the games handicap market goes to Tiafoe because if one adds 3.5 to the Duckworth tally, his 17.5 is still lower than Tiafoe’ 18. The punter loses this bet.
Set Handicap
Much like the Game Handicap, a Set Handicap creates a parity between players and allows you to bet on someone whom you think might not win the match but could steal a set off his opponent. Or it could be used to bet on a player whom you think could win by a particular set margin.
Take the example of a non-Grand Slam match in which encounters are typically played as best-of-three sets matches and again, Tiafoe is taking on Duckworth.
While Tiafoe is a match favourite as mentioned above at 2/7 and Duckworth starts off an underdog at 11/4, there is more value to found in Set Handicap associated with either of these:
- Set Handicap Tiafoe -1.5: 4/5
- Set Handicap Thompson +1.5: 1/1
If you bet on the first market, i.e. Tiafoe -1.5 and he wins it 2-0 (two sets to love), you would end up winning the bet because even after negating 1.5 from the two sets he won, he would be ahead of Duckworth’s 0. However, the bet is lost if Duckworth managed to win a set.
Similarly, if you bet on the second market, i.e. Duckworth +1.5 and he won a set, it wouldn’t matter if Tiafoe won the match or not but you would have won the bet.
Total Games
This tennis betting market allows you to bet on the total number of games that would be on show in a match. It is usually an over/under bet, i.e. the bookmaker gives out odds for Over X Games or Under X games in the encounter instead of expecting a bet on the exact number of games.
Continuing with the same example of Tiafoe vs Duckworth, the match odds suggest that it is expected to be a one-sided encounter. Tiafoe is probably expected to run through his opposition and the odds for the expected games in this are as follows:
- Over 21.5 Games: 8/11
- Under 21.5 Games: 23/20
What this means is that whoever wins, a scoreline of 6-4, 6-4 for instance, will fall under the Under 21.5 games bet and and a 7-5, 6-4 scoreline is Over 21.5 games.
Total Sets
In a best of three match, there are two values for this – Over 2.5 and Under 2.5. Basically, a straight-set win or not.
This could change in a best of five encounter where we could see three, four or five sets and different odds associated with each of them. Bookmakers could also offer markets for Over 3.5 Sets and Under 3.5 Sets, i.e. whether it would be a straight-set win or not.
Set Score (Exact Score)
Tennis punters can bet on the exact score in a particular set of a match between two players. Because the outcomes on offer for this could be anywhere from Player A winning the set 6-0 to Player B clinching it 7-6 (i.e. a total of 14 possible outcomes), this has typically quite large odds associated with each of the outcomes.
Take the example of the 2023 Monte-Carlo Masters match between the second seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas and Taylor Fritz, who was the eighth seed.
Tsitsipas was a heavy favourite entering the match, starting out 1/3 odds (1.33) to overcome Fritz. Which is why the lowest odds on offer for Set Score was a 9/2 for Tsitsipas to win the first set 6-3. He was 8/1 to win it 6-2 while Fritz was 25/1 to win the opening set 6-2.
What happened in that match, you ask? Well, Fritz won it 6-2, 6-4 which meant that had a tennis punter placed 10 quid on that outcome, he/she would have earned a whopping GBP 250 back.
Set Total Games
We have seen how the Set Score market is a very high risk-high reward one but if you want to go for a lesser risky option, you could look at the Set Total Games market.
Here, the bookmakers typically offer odds for an under/over a number of games in a set starting with Under/Over 6.5, going up to Under/Over 10.5.
A bet on the Under 6.5 games in a set outcome will only result in a win if a player wins that set 6-0 while an Over 10.5 games in a set is only possible if the set goes to 7-5 or 7-6 scorelines.
In a match between Iga Swiatek and any of the lower-ranked players outside the top 25, there is a good chance of a bet on Under 6.5 Games in a Set coming good given her ability to dish out bagels.
Similarly, many of John Isner’s sets went into tie-breakers making his matches a good candidate for a bet on Over 10.5 Games in a Set.
Game Total
Much like the aforementioned market where punters need to predict the number of games in a set, there are also markets available to foretell that number in the entire match.
In a completed best-of-three encounter, the least number of games in a match are 12 (if a player wins 6-0, 6-0) while the most will be 39 (if the match goes to a tie-breaker in each of the three sets).
Typically odds on offer start from about Under 16.5 games and go up to Over 24.5 games (there are obvious outliers) whereby the tennis bookmaker offers near-even odds for one of these outcomes.
So again, for a match between Swiatek and a player outside the the top 50, we could have a bookmaker offering 5/6 for Under 17.5 and Over 17.5 Games in a Match.
On the other hand, the same odds could be on offer in a John Isner match but for Under and Over 20.5 Games in a Match given how regularly his matches go into the third set or two tie-breakers.
Set Winner
As a part of live betting or even before the start of the match, bookmakers offer odds for player to win a particular set.
Before the match has begun, the odds on offer could be for Player A to win the first set or Player B to win the first set while during the match, markets could be offered for the current set – Winner of the First/Second/Third etc Set.
Tournament Outright Winner
As the name suggests, there is a tennis market that offers odds to predict the winner of a particular tournament. These odds reflect the probability of a player winning that title.
For instance, these are the pre-tournament betting odds offered by bet365 for the men’s singles winner at the 2024 French Open:
Final Word on Tennis Betting Markets
Having explained what are the various betting markets you can use to bet on tennis, it’s important to note that the best strategy to use is to understand each one of them but use only those you think you have mastered.
That might not happen overnight but with time tennis bettors have known to find their betting market niche, one that maximises their profits to the hilt. And over time, bettors can then kick on by focussing on only those markets rather than go with the entire gamut.
Photo Credit: Mat Brown
