Tennis Betting Tips on how to become a profitable tennis tipster

The third of my blogs on how to become a winning tipster is dedicated to tennis. 

I first become interested in tennis back in the 90s.

This was when I first saw the likes of Sampras and Agassi play. 

I then started checking the different options and slowly built my strategy.

Just like any other sport, there are some basics, which one must never underestimate or overlook when betting on tennis. 

Strategies are individual, but often share something in common.  

On OLBG the best tennis betting tips and tipsters feature on the Hot Tipsters pages.

Here you can always find what tennis experts are selecting and crucially why they are selecting those bets. 

You can also see what these tipsters have in common. 

The Tennis Basics

You should always start with basic general knowledge.

• How is the game played?
• Who are the top players?
• What are the top tournaments?
• Which matches matter the most?
• What are the current rankings?

Tournaments

The tennis calendar is divided into several tournament categories, both for men and women. 

There are two general groups of events, those who we often watch on TV and hear much about (Grand Slams, Masters events, ATP 500 and 250s) and those where all players start at (ITF level all the way down to 10k prize money events, called FUTURES). 

As you might expect, the top players won't be seen at Futures, Challenger, or even low-grade ATP events as they have a pre-determined number of events they expect to play at in order to stay injury-free. 

To put it more simply top players are more interested in winning a Grand Slam rather than an ATP 250 event 

A player will accumulate almost 10 times as many points and prize money as he would at a small event.

There is slight difference between ATP (men's tennis) and WTA (women's tennis) in terms of how tournaments are referred to with the terms ‘CHALLENGER' and ‘FUTURES' being used only to describe ITF men's events.

The prize money is often used to signal out the significance of a tournament.

Rankings

The universal ranking table includes all active players in ATP and WTA. 

What is very specific about the rankings is that they are calculated on an annual basis with points being gained or subtracted week by week. 

The points a player wins are valid only for 52 weeks, meaning they need to be “defended” from one season to another. 

This is important to know and observe for betting purposes because you could figure out at what time of the season and at which events a particular player would have more to play for. 

For example if a player has won an ATP 500 event the previous year, he would risk losing 500 points at around the same time the next year. 

If that player is on a bad run, he/she might end up putting more effort when their ranking is in jeopardy. 

The significance of ranking comes into play when players are seeded for the big events like Grand Slams. 

Being in the top 32 of the world is vital in getting a more favourable draw in the early rounds of pretty much any event.

Watching Tennis

Once you are familiar with the game's basics and sport's structure, you should just start watching and taking notes. 

There are elite players, who rarely lose, and more often than not they would lose to each other.

There are those players, who are just behind the elite and are always capable of causing an upset. 

This group is pretty extensive and changes every season, so being up to date with the rankings is important.

It is fair to say that players outside the top 100 are not too likely to beat those from the top 10, so if you are looking for value, it might be wise to look elsewhere.

Betting Markets

In terms of betting markets, tennis has plenty of options. 

The most popular for individual matches are listed below. 

• To Win
• Match Handicap
• Total Games
• Set Betting
• Total Sets
• 1st Set Score
• 1st Set Total Games

A random check of a match on Paddy Power showed 64 individual betting markets, the choice is extensive.

Bet Builder On Tennis

If you fancy accumulating a few tennis bets try request a bet or bet builder. 

You get a choice of markets which can include

• To Win
• Match Handicap
• Total Games
• Set Winner
• Total Sets
• Set Score
• Total Games
• Straight Sets
• Player To Win A Set
• First Break

All the big bookies now offer this option in some form or another. 

If you are new to this style of betting please check out this unmissable OLBG.com bet builder guide. 

In-Play Tennis Betting

In-play or in-running tennis betting is generating huge interest, you can read more about in-play betting at the betting school.  

Tournament Betting

Picking up tournament winners is probably the most demanding market as you would need to know as much as possible about all participating players

That is not the case for Grand Slams, though, where we rarely see outsiders going all the way. 

Developing A Tennis Betting Strategy

What makes tennis betting a bit more difficult is the number of players involved.

There are literally thousands of players and they all fit into one ranking table. 

Of course, you would not be able to remember all of them or know much about those who compete at the lower levels, but I would advise you to start with a small selection of players. 

They might be in the top 100 or somewhere lower down the table. 

The more information you have about a player the more chance you have of making a winning bet. 

Of course like every other major sport in the age of technology, tennis is well-covered by the media.

Remember that simply watching the four Grand Slams every year won't be sufficient in understanding the dynamics of tennis. 

Whenever you get the chance to watch lower-level events, do so as it could prove very beneficial when those Grand Slams come and you want to bet on them.

Remember that knowledge is everything, the informed punter will naturally do better more regularly. 

Tennis betting tips feature on OLBG and the OLBG App. 

Improve your betting returns by following the best tennis tipsters and reading their insightful comments