Updated on: January 7th, 2025
In terms of revenue and the number of bets placed, tennis is the third most popular sport in the world to bet on. The sport is extremely competitive, and many professional tournaments are hosted across the globe each year. Tennis betting sites are always rife with options when the Grand Slam events, such as the Australian Open and French Open, come around.
Tennis betting lines are really easy to come by online as pretty much every sportsbook offers them. You’ll notice that most of the best sites also don’t limit you to betting on famous tennis professionals, such as Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal.
Rather they provide tennis betting odds on all players at all stages of tournaments in ATP and WTA tours. With the tennis betting market being pretty predictable at the highest level in both men’s and women’s tournaments, it is in these smaller matches that you can look to make the most money.
If you are looking to learn more about how to bet on tennis online, you have come to the right place. Below we go through all you need to know about placing your first wagers on the sport. This includes the available online gambling markets, as well as strategies and tips to use when considering a wager. So, read on and let us be your tennis betting expert!
Best Online Betting Sites for Tennis
The tennis sports betting websites listed below are currently some of the best available online. There are so many lines available and at great odds too.
Tennis Bets for Today
How to Bet on Tennis and Win
It is easy to bet on tennis tournaments online. The modern game allows for so many extra betting opportunities other than wagering on the outcome of the match in a head to head between two top players.
If you would like to start betting on tennis online, follow the steps outlined to get yourself started:
- Sign up at online tennis betting sites.
- Add some funds to your sportsbook account.
- Select the match you would like to bet on.
- Select the type of bet you want to place.
- Confirm your bet and watch the game to see if you win.
Tennis Betting Lines Explained
When you visit an online sportsbook, you will find that it will offer multiple tennis betting lines. Here are some of the most popularly available on the game of tennis:
Moneyline or Match Winner
Moneylines are the best everyone thinks of first when they think of betting on tennis matches. Basically, all you are doing is betting on which player wins the match. Some sportsbooks label these as match-winner bets as a result.
Usually, the odds on moneylines aren’t very good because tennis is a very predictable sport. For example, in a match featuring Andy Murray and Marcel Granollers, who are you going to bet on? The former world number 1 or the man who happens to find himself ranked 150th at the time of writing?
Spread Betting
With this bet, sportsbooks try to level the playing field. So, one player is deemed the favorite and the other is deemed the underdog. The sportsbook then sets a number of games or sets that expect the favorite to win by.
Spread lines can appear a little confusing to people unfamiliar with sports betting. So, here is an example:
Serena Williams -1.5
Naomi Osaka +1.5
In this game, Serena Williams is the favorite and expected to win by more than two sets. Bets on Naomi Osaka payout if she wins the match or loses by less than two sets.
Spreads provide better odds on match bets focused on predicting the winner. They are riskier than moneylines and aren’t always worth making, but they provide you with better odds if you are focused on predicting winners.
Total Games or Set Betting
With this wager, gamblers predict the number of sets that will be played in the match. Or, the total number of sets the winner will win the match in. The bet is similar to the over/under bets made in other sports, which is why it is also known as a tennis betting over under.
There are a number of variations of game bets. So, it is important to make sure that you understand exactly what type of bet you are making when you are selecting a line at a sportsbook. You don’t want to mistake a total games played line with a correct score line.
Props
Props are a category of bets where you attempt to predict whether a certain event will take place during the match. Some examples include whether the game will be a tie breaker or whether whoever wins the game will win in straight sets.
The focus of the bet is usually never on who will win the game. Rather it is on something taking place during the game.
Futures
At some sportsbooks, this wager is known as an outright winner bet. Basically, you bet on the tournament winner a long time before the final takes place. So, for example, at the beginning of the Roland Garros, you could bet on Rafael Nadal to take it (which wouldn’t be a long shot since he has won 13 times since turning pro.)
Bets on who wins the tournament are meant to provide good odds because usually they are very hard to predict. But tennis is slightly predictable, especially men’s tournaments. So, while they still offer sweet rewards, they aren’t as great as those seen in other sports.
Play Betting
Play betting makes part of live betting. All you do is bet on a player to win or lose the next play. It offers great chances to make more money in competitive matches.
Best Tennis Betting Odds
Tennis betting odds are very easy to read, even if some people are put off by the numbers involved with reading odds. Essentially, reading odds is pretty simple. Nowadays, sportsbooks have their own built-in calculators, so you don’t even really need to know how they work to make bets, but we still recommend you learn.
So, there are three odds systems used around the world:
- American/Moneyline
- Fractional
- Decimal
Most of the sportsbooks we recommend use the moneyline system, so we will explain how to read those odds here. But you can learn about the others in our odds guide.
At sportsbooks, tennis betting lines are usually displayed as such:
Ashleigh Barty -120
Simona Halep +140
The symbol next to the number is very important because this tells you which player is the favorite to win. Usually, minus denotes a favorite, and a plus denotes an underdog, but sometimes the odds are stacked against both players, and they both get pluses or minuses.
The symbol also tells you which formula to use to calculate your winnings on the bet. Here are the two formulas you can use:
- Positive – Odds x (Stake/100)
- Negative – (100/Odds) x Stake
Now that you know how much you could potentially make on a bet, you are better equipped to say yes or no to it.
Online Tennis Betting Tips
Looking to craft the ultimate tennis betting strategy? While we won’t call ourselves pro tennis betting tipsters, we do know some helpful tips to help get you in the green more often, including the following:
Pay Attention to the Surface
It is important to understand that players have different strengths and weaknesses and also that they play better in certain conditions.
There are four main surfaces that tennis is played on; grass, clay court, hard court, and the carpet. Due to the speed that both the ball and player can move on these diverse surfaces, a player’s level of performance varies on the type of court he or she is playing on.
Players such as David Ferrer and Rafael Nadal are much better on clay than on other surfaces. However, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic are better on the hard court surfaces used at the US Open and Australian Open. They are also pretty good at lawn tennis seen at Wimbledon.
Analyze Player Strengths and Weaknesses
Tennis players have different skillsets, and experienced tennis bettors know how players play and what type of a player they fair better against.
At a basic level, tennis players can be right-handed or left-handed, and you need to think about this when betting. A few examples of different playstyle include the following: baseline, big-servers, defensive, and all-rounders.
This makes a difference when you are considering a matchup. For example, John Isner has a powerful serve. Against an opponent with an average or sub-par return game, he is going to be nearly unbeatable.
However, Isner is susceptible to an excessive returner, so if his opponent can beat his serve, Isner may be in for a long game.
Join Tennis Betting Forums
Sometimes discussing a bet with other people can lead you to make better decisions. Other bettors may open your eyes to possibilities or facts you may not have considered. While we don’t believe that you should believe everything you read, it can’t hurt to have a look at what is being said in a tennis betting Reddit thread.
We also occasionally provide free tennis betting tips on our daily blog, where we frequently post the latest tennis betting predictions.
Popular Tennis Tournaments to Bet On
The tennis calendar is filled with events to bet on each and every season. Some of the most popular events include the following:
- Australian Open – the Australian Open is the most-watched tennis event on the calendar. Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams hold the records for most titles won.
- French Open – the Roland Garros is the second Grand Slam on the calendar. Rafael Nadal is known as the King of Clay due to dominating this tournament.
- Wimbledon – arguably, the most prestigious tennis tournament in the world, and undoubtedly the oldest. Roger Federer is known to be very successful here, but Novak Djokovic is close behind.
- US Open – the last Grand Slam on the calendar. Roger Federer is currently tied for most titles here with Pete Sampras and Jimmy Connors. Serena Williams leads the way in the women’s tournament.
Tennis Betting Rules
Tennis is played on a rectangular court divided into two halves by a net in the middle. Each half of the court has two sides. The right side is called the deuce, and the left side is called the ad.
On every side of the court, there is a service box that runs from the net until over halfway to the edge of the court. When playing, a player looks to hit the ball into their opponent’s service box slantwise across from where they are playing from.
The player who is able to score the most points and win the most sets is declared the winner of the match.
Online Tennis Gambling – FAQs
There are many ways to bet on tennis. You can bet on the match outcome or for an event to take place during the game. The most popular bet of all is the moneyline, where you bet on the player you think is going to win the game.
Yes, tennis betting is profitable. You just need to be smart with your money. Remember that tennis is a predictable sport, so some bets have returns that just aren’t worth it.
An over/under in tennis refers to how many sets you think the game is going to be completed in. So, you could bet that a game is going to last three or five sets, etc.
Tennis favorites are said to win about 68.5% of all matches. (We told you that the sport was predictable.)
There is no way to always win in tennis betting. The best chance you can give yourself at winning a bet is researching the players involved in the game and the type of wager you would like to place.
A set is a group of at least six games that are turned into points to determine a winner. Most Grand Slams have matches in sets of three or five.
Yes, tennis players get paid if they lose. Just making it to the second round of a tournament could earn you a payday of $100 000 or more.
Yes, tennis betting is easy if you focus on moneylines. As stated above, favorites usually win. However, betting on favorites isn’t always profitable, so you are going to have to go for riskier bets if you want to make money on this sport.
