How to get started betting on tennis

The heart of the tennis season is very much upon us. As we move into the summer, we can look forward to some of the biggest tennis events on the calendar—including Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. Around this time, many tennis fans are looking for ways to augment their experience of watching these exciting matches; some choose to attend the events live, for instance (which you should definitely do if you ever get the chance). Others place real-money bets on tennis matches to make them a little more intriguing. If you’re interested in doing just that, then read on for our guide on how to get started betting on tennis.

Research your betting sites

One of the most important things to do as a novice sports betting enthusiast is extensive research on betting sites. There are many of them out there; sports betting is, after all, a very competitive industry; everyone has a different idea of what the perfect sports betting website might look like. Websites like Bet Station (housed over at www.betstation.com) are a good place to start; you’re looking for great user-friendly design, enticing beginner offers, and a focus on security that means you feel like your money is safe.

Learn your tables

When you’re betting on tennis, you need to know who’s hot and who’s not. You can gain that knowledge simply by checking out the official tennis rankings; knowing who the world No. 1 is, for example, will help you when it comes to betting on the outcome of a match. If you know where two tennis players are ranked, you can make informed decisions about whether the match is likely to go one way or the other. This goes for both men’s and women’s tennis, as they’re both just as thrilling as each other, so make sure you’re spreading your betting across both of them!

Analyze players

If you want to achieve any measure of success as a tennis bettor (which is, after all, based on luck, but you can influence the outcome to some degree), then you’re going to need to become something of an amateur statistician, as well. Watch as many tennis matches as you can with an analytical mind. Observe what players do, where their strengths and weaknesses lie, and how they incorporate those strengths and weaknesses into their play styles. By doing so, you’ll gain a greater understanding of how those players operate and become more well-versed in spotting when a match is going their way or not.

Learn advanced tennis rules

As with other sports, there are lots of different tennis rules to learn (more on which later). By learning some of the more advanced rules, you’ll increase the amount of options you have when it comes to betting on the outcome of the match. Anyone can bet on whether a player wins or loses, but being able to tell how many times the advantage will belong to a certain player, for example, or whether a player’s serve will hit a certain level, could mean you can spot an opportunity where nobody else can. Spend some time watching tennis and listening to commentators, as they’ll usually have a good grasp on some of the more esoteric aspects of the game.

Play some tennis yourself

If you want to get into the psyche of a tennis player, then one of the ways you can do that (if you’re physically able, of course) is to play some tennis yourself. Hit the court with a friend, or a few friends if you want to play some doubles, and try to get a game going. You’d be amazed at just how difficult it can be; naturally, professional tennis players make playing the game look easy, but playing to their standard is incredibly difficult. This might also give you an understanding of where a player’s mindset might be during a particularly lengthy or difficult game, which could also help you to make betting decisions on the fly.

Decide on your bankroll

Your bankroll is one of the most important decisions you will make as a sports bettor. Deciding how much you want to dedicate to betting on sports should be done responsibly and carefully; you don’t want to allocate too much, thereby potentially causing financial harm, or too little, which could mean you don’t have as much fun as you want to have. With that in mind, it’s a good idea to conduct careful analysis of your bank account—potentially alongside a partner—and discuss what you think you can spare. That’s your bankroll. From there, decide how much of that bankroll you want to spend on each individual bet and make sure you adhere to that budget.

Learn your tennis betting terminology

Every sport has its own terminology, plus shared sports betting jargon that works across all of the different sports. Here are a few terms you’re going to need to learn if you want to bet on tennis.

• Game spread – in essence, this is a way to win by betting on the amount of games each participant wins in the match. If, for example, you bet a 4.5 game spread on a player and then they lose the match – but crucially, not by more than 5 games – you can still win that bet.
• Money line – Put simply, betting on the money line means placing a bet on the player you think is going to win. The money line refers to how much you’d get back on a certain bet; if Medvedev were to play Djokovic, for example, the money line on Medvedev could be +110, which means you’d get £110 for a successful £100 bet.
• Props – if you want to win big, you’re going to want to look at props. These are advanced tennis bets that revolve around specific elements of matches, i.e. aces, double-faults, service breaks, etc.

There are obviously many more tennis betting terms than this, so we recommend strongly that you do your research before beginning!