Guest post written by AM
Tennis is one of the sports on which punters place wagers. Tennis is a game that pits one competitor against another. As such, it is a bettor’s delight. Just as the outcome of a soccer match between Manchester United versus Chelsea is unpredictable and could go either way, so also some tennis matches such as one involving Roger Federer/Rafael Nadal or Justine Henin/Serena Williams evoke great excitement and interest at the betting exchanges.
In tennis betting, there are three forms of betting available. These are:
1)Â Â Â Future bets
2)Â Â Â Match bets
3)Â Â Â Set bets
In future bets, you are betting on which player is likely to win the tournament. Match bets require you to bet on individual match-ups, while set bets require the bettor to place a wager on not just who will win a tennis match, but by how many sets.
There are differences in tournaments and how tennis is played in these tournaments. There are also some differences in male and female tennis matches. For example, regular tennis matches are played as best-of-three matches, irrespective of whether it is a male tennis match or a female tennis match. However, this changes in the Grand Slam events (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open). In the Grand Slams, matches involving male participants (male singles and male doubles) are played as best-of-five games and female matches as best-of-three. Same goes for mixed doubles (male and female partnership on each side). The Grand Slams are played on different surfaces (Australian and US Open on hard courts, Wimbledon on grass, and French Open on clay).
A bettor on tennis must have a sound knowledge of some of these little nuances. Certain players are better on certain surfaces. If you look at the history of the French Open which is played on clay, you will see that players like Thomas Muster and more recently, Rafael Nadal have been dominant on this surface, while players like Pete Sampras in his day, and lately, Roger Federer, have struggled on this surface. If you have a match involving Nadal and Federer on this surface, who is most likely to win? Or look at Sampras and Federer’s dominating history on the grassy courts of the Flushing Meadows of Wimbledon, mostly due to the fact that grass courts favour big-serving players with excellent volleying ability (grass adds greater speed on a bounce of the ball).
Anyone who wants to bet on tennis must be aware of the abilities of players on different playing surfaces. However, because tennis is played with one or two players at best and there are other varying factors that come into play (such as wind speed, umpire calls and a player’s general conditioning at the time of the game), the best tennis betting strategies have a strike rate of between 60-65% at best.
So before you venture into tennis betting, factor in the playing surface, the conditioning of the players, the type of tournament as well as use good strategies that have been back-tested and can at least guarantee a performance rate of about 60%.
