Nine Ways To Do Tennis Betting

Online sportsbooks make it possible for you to support Canada's Milos Raonic in tennis betting. (Photo credit: Carine06 / IWoman / CC BY-SA)


Tennis betting is much different than betting on hockey, football, baseball and basketball.

While those other sports involve betting on teams, tennis betting allows you to just worry about individuals. There are much less variables to worry about when it’s just one person, not a whole team.

A player’s history against a certain opponent, their recent play and their track record on whichever surface they’re playing on (grass, clay or artificial) are the biggest factors you should consider when doing tennis betting.

Once you’ve decided who you want to wager on, here are the nine different ways for you to do tennis betting — whether it’s Wimbledon, the Australian Open, the French Open, the U.S. Open, the Rogers Cup or any of the other many tournaments on the tennis betting calendar.

1. Match betting

Match betting in tennis betting is simply picking the winner of the match, just like moneyline betting in baseball or hockey. Match betting is ideal for when you think the underdog will win the match, since it allows you to maximize your profits at better odds. Match betting isn’t as good when you want to bet on a heavy favourite, since you’ll have to risk a lot to win a little.

Best sportsbook for match tennis betting: Pinnacle Sports

2. Handicap betting

Handicap betting in tennis betting is like the point spread in football or basketball. Favourites have to win their match by a certain amount of games (the handicap) in order for you to win your bet. If you bet on the underdog, you can still win your bet if they lose, just as long as they don’t lose by more than the handicap.

For example, if Milos Raonic is -4.5 on the handicap against Jeremy Chardy, he will need to win his match by five games in order to cover (ie. 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 = 19-14 = 5 games). For Chardy to cover, he can either win the match outright or lose by less than five games (ie. 7-6, 7-6, 6-4 = 20-16 = 4 games ).

Handicap betting is great if you like a favourite but don’t want to have to lay big money to win a little, or if you think an underdog can be competitive but aren’t quite sure they can pull out the victory.

Best sportsbook for handicap tennis betting: Pinnacle Sports

3. Total Games

Total games betting in tennis betting is like the over/under in other sports. The oddsmaker posts a total, and you bet on whether there will be more (over) or less (under) games played in the match than that total.

For example, let’s say Milos Raonic is playing Jeremy Chardy and the total is 41. If Raonic wins 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5, that is a total of 42 games and the over would win. If Raonic wins 6-4, 6-3, 6-4, that is a total of 29 games and the under would win quite easily.

If you think the match will be competitive and might go five sets, the over would be a good pick in totals betting. If you think one player will make short work of another and win in three or four sets, the under is a good bet.

Best sportsbook for total games tennis betting: Pinnacle Sports

4. First Set Winner

First set winner in tennis betting is similar to the first half bet in basketball betting or football betting, or the first five innings in baseball betting.

Instead of betting on the full match, you are just betting on the result of the first set.

The first set winner is a good option if one player has a history of starting slowly or quickly, or if you think the underdog can play tough early in the match before eventually fading.

Best sportsbook for first set winner tennis betting

5. Set Betting

Set betting is much riskier than the other types of tennis betting, but it can pay off big.

With set betting, you are betting on what the score of each set will be. For example, you could bet on Raonic to beat Chardy 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.

The payoff would potentially be huge, but obviously you’re a longshot to win this bet. We recommend only doing set betting with small wagers to make things more exciting.

Best sportsbook for set tennis betting: Pinnacle Sports

6. Live Betting

Live betting is a great choice for a back and forth sport like tennis. One minute, the favourite might appear on his way to losing a set and be paying off like an underdog. The next, he’ll have broken his opponent’s serve and be back in the game. The live betting odds can even swing drastically from point to point.

We recommend live betting in tennis when you like a player to win but aren’t quite comfortable with the odds offered before the game begins. Often times, if you’re patient, you’ll get the odds you want in live betting.

7. Parlays

Playing parlays in tennis betting can allow you to bet on heavy favourites without having to risk a lot. If there are several favourites you like, especially early in the tournament, it can be smart to parlay them together. The only downside is that they all have to win in order for you to cash your bet, similar to Proline betting.

Best sportsbook for tennis betting parlays: Pinnacle Sports

8. Prop betting

Prop betting in tennis enables you to bet on certain things happening in the match, not necessarily the scores or the winners themselves. For instance, you can bet on who will make more faults or double faults in a match, or who will record the most aces.

Prop betting can add some fun and excitement to tennis betting, but it’s usually hard to find an advantage. The odds on the prop betting will be based on statistics, so they’re pretty tough to beat.

Best sportsbook for tennis betting props: Bodog or Sports Interaction

9. Futures

Futures betting in tennis is betting on who will win the tournament before the tournament begins. It allows you to bet on the best players in tennis at juicy odds, or you can even take a longshot on an underdog with the chance for a huge return.

A popular tennis betting strategy with futures bets is to take several players on the futures odds. Then, as the tournament progresses, you can hedge off of these bets by betting on their opponents and guaranteeing yourself a profit. Who knows, you might even have two players at +500 odds play each other in the final. In this case, you can’t lose!

Best sportsbook for tennis betting futures: Pinnacle Sports