How to bet on Tennis

Tennis has become a largely popular sport for both fans, recreational players, and especially sports bettors over the past few years. The four largest betting tournaments for tennis are the Grand Slams; the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. These majors are similar to the golf set up for their majors, and are followed very closely by fans and sports bettors. There are multiple different ways to bet on tennis, and here at America’s Bookie’s Tennis Betting section we cover each and every type of bet and take a more in-depth look at the betting options as well. With the popularity of tennis constantly growing, there is no better time to get onto the tennis betting bandwagon, so let’s take a look at the most popular types of tennis bets offered today.

Outright Tennis Betting

Outright tennis betting works just like golf’s outright betting does, where you are essentially betting on one single player to win an entire event. So whether it be one of the four Grand Slam’s or one of the smaller events, your job is to bet on the winner of the event before it begins. This type of bet can offer very good odds and can pay out quite well if you are able to hit the bet, but it is also one of the harder bets to win. Depending on the size of the events, there can be a very large number of players that you are choosing from, and upsets can happen in tennis at almost any time. Let’s take a look at an example of an outright tennis bet.

Betting on the 2011 US Open:

Novak Djokovic: +150

Rafael Nadal: +300

Roger Federer: +400

Juan Martin Del Potro: +1000

Mardy Fish: +1800

Thomas Berdych: +4000

John Isner: +8000

Andy Roddick: +10000

Lleyton Hewitt: +25000

The Field: +6000

As you can see from the odds listed above, the typically odds on this type of bet will vary quite a bit. You even have the option of betting on ”the field” which will give you every player who is not listed on the board as well. The top players who are typically the favorites will have a good track record of winning the majors, so it is always a good idea to do your research on the players’ play as of late, and see who will be the strong betting options for each specific event.

Matchup Tennis Betting

Matchup tennis betting is one of the most popular ways to bet on tennis today. The idea behind this bet is that you are betting on a specific match during the event, and you have to pick one side to win the matchup. This bet will offer odds that vary by which two players are playing each other, but you can find some great matchup bets with players who are in mismatches against their opponent. Of course, the matchup bets will feature odds that are closer as the event narrows the field, when some of the top players in the game start playing each other. Let’s take a look at a few matchup betting options which could be available to you.

Matchup Tennis Bets

Novak Djokovic -280 vs. John Isner +200

In this example, Djokovic is the big favorite, and you would have to bet $28 to win $10 if you were to bet on him. On the other side of it, if you think that Isner can pull of the upset, you could bet $10 to win $20 on him.

Roger Federer -180 vs. Mardy Fish +160

This match-up is a bit closer, but Federer is still the favorite. If you bet on Federer to win you would have to bet $180 to win $100, and if you think that Fish can pull the upset, you could bet $100 to win $160 since he is the underdog.

The odds on these bets do vary even more than this, and if you have a first round matchup with a player who is projected to win the entire event matched up against one of the younger and less experienced players; the odds could be even in the upwards of -400 to -500, and even higher at times.

Tennis Prop Betting

Prop betting is popular in every sport, and this definitely goes for tennis as well. While there aren’t an incredible amount of prop bets on tennis, there are some very good prop betting options which can make you some good money. The two most common types of prop bets in tennis, are betting on how many sets a specific matchup will take, and also betting on who will win the first set in a match. The odds on these two prop bets will vary depending on how heavy of a favorite one of the sides is. Remember, each matchup in the example that we are using will be based on the player having to win three sets in order to win the match. The best way to explain these two prop bets is to take a look at an example of both by using the matchup betting example from above.

Novak Djokovic vs. John Isner Total Sets:

Novak Djokovic to win in 3 straight sets: -150

Novak Djokovic to win in 4 sets: -140

Novak Djokovic to win in 5 sets: -110

John Isner to win in 3 straight sets: +380

John Isner to win in 4 sets: +300

John Isner to win in 5 sets: +240

As you can see by these odds, Djokovic is the heavy favorite, and is expected to win the match in either straight sets, or in four sets. If you think that Isner can win the match in any amount of sets, you can get some great odds on betting on his side of this prop bet.

Novak Djokovic vs. John Isner First Set Winner:

Novak Djokovic: -200

John Isner: +180

While the odds on this bet are a little better for Djokovic, he is still a very large favorite to win the first set of the match. If you bet Djokovic to win the first set, you would be betting $20 to win $10, and if you bet on Isner, you could bet $10 to win $18.

Futures Tennis Betting

Futures tennis betting works very similar to a futures bet in the NFL when you are betting on the winner of the Super Bowl, except that there are four different times to do futures bets in tennis typically. You will have the option to place a futures bet on any of the four Grand Slams, the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Each of the odds on the players for these events will be different though, as specific players play well on specific surfaces, and other players struggle on specific types of surfaces. Some players are excellent all around players, and you may find that they are near the top in terms of favorites for each Grand Slam event. Here’s an example of a tennis futures bet that you may see offered:

Futures Betting on the 2011 US Open:

Novak Djokovic: +200

Roger Federer: +450

Andy Murray: +500

Mardy Fish: +1500

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga: +2500

Gael Monfils: +5500

John Isner: +8000

Marin Cilic: +10000

Alexandr Dolgopolov: +15000

Of course there are many more players offered, but this is just a list of a few of the tennis future betting options that you would have. As you can see, the odds will range once again, and as the event gets closer you will notice that the odds do change a bit as well over time.

There are some very good betting options when it comes to betting on tennis, but just be sure to do your research and look for angles on which players play well on whichever surface the event is being played on. So give one of these tennis bets a shot on the next Grand Slam, and see which type of bet is your favorite! If you are looking for more info on the types of bets offered on a specific sport, be sure to check out all of the other sports that we cover here at America’s Bookie also!