Tennis Betting Offers

Tennis Ball And Net On CourtAnyone for tennis? If so, and you fancy a flutter be sure to check out the latest tennis betting offers, bonuses and promotions we present from the best bookmakers in the business. With the four Grand Slam events – the Australian Open, the French Open, the US Open and Wimbledon – dominating the tennis calendar in terms of prestige and popularity, it is no surprise that the vast majority of tennis betting offers revolve around these four great events.

Occasionally other events (some of the ATP Masters series events, the Olympics and the Davis Cup final) might attract the odd special offer from the bookies, but really it’s all about the majors. And often, for the British bookies, those offers revolve a round a certain Andy Murray – the first Brit to win a major for 60,000 years (or something like that) and the 2013 Wimbledon champion (a victory that cost the bookies a small fortune).

Below you’ll find a feed of the latest tennis betting promotions that you can claim. Please note that there don’t tend to be many ongoing tennis offers, so if there are no valid offers then none will show up. Even there is a big tournament taking place there might not be any as promos that have ended are automatically removed – this includes the removal of promotions where the bets must be placed prior to the start of the tournament even if the tournament is still in play.

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Latest Tennis Betting Offers & Promotions

Bet £40, Get a £5 Free In-Play Bet

Opt-in and bet £40 or more on tennis before 10pm on Tuesday 17th December and you could get a free £5 bet to use in-play. Minimum odds of evens apply. Bets must also be settled before 11:59pm on the 17th December to qualify.

Opt In required; Bet a total of £40+ on tennis from 01/12 10 pm to 17/12 10 pm; Min odds and bet exclusions apply; Stake not returned; T&C apply; 18+ Begambleaware.org #ad
Acca Boost

The new 100% Acca Boost means you can now double your winnings on accumulators across a range of sports and competitions with bet365!

The Soccer, Tennis and Multi-Sport Acca Boosts have been combined into a fantastic new 100% Acca Boost, giving you the chance to combine selections from your favourite sports and double your winnings on qualifying accumulators with bet365.

New & eligible customers only. Minimum odds, bet restrictions and T&Cs apply. This boost applies to winnings on accumulators of 2 or more selections placed on any combination of qualifying sports, placed from 12:00 UK Time on 6th August 2024. For more information about all offers please visit the bet365 website. Registration required. #ad
Free Bet for In-Play Bets & Accas

Place in-play bets or accumulators on tennis today and you could get 5% of your stake as a free bet up to £5. Minimum odds of 6/4 (2.50) apply. Minimum stake £5, max stake £10 per bet.

In-play bets and accumulators both qualify. Max free bet £5 per customer per day. Minimum stake £5. Max stake for bets to qualify is £10. Odds must be 6/4 (2.50), for singles or combined bets, to qualify. Bets must be placed and settled before 23:59. T&Cs apply, 18+. #ad

Stats Articles

Betting on Tennis

Why is Betting on Tennis so Popular?

Coral In-Play Tennis Betting

If you’ve been able to spend any time at all within one of the bigger online bookmakers, then you will likely have seen that tennis gets a lot of coverage. One of the reasons is that there are so many events and in turn games, it means it can literally be bet on 52 weeks of the year, something very few, if any, other sports can.

The other attraction comes from the fact that the scoring system means that in-play betting can become highly lucrative. For those that don’t know, each tennis game starts at 0-0 and players must score first to 4 points or if tied at 3 points each, win by 2 clear points. These numbers are represented as:

Love 15 30 40 Deuce (40-40) Advantage
Point 0 1 2 3 3-3 4-3 / 3-4

Games and points can come thick and fast, so it links up to live betting really well. Theoretically, each player has 50/50 chance of winning the next available point. Whilst in practice this isn’t always true as the server has the advantage over the returner in most cases, a single point could still go either way.

When betting live it gives punters the ability to take into consideration what’s happened previously in the match and how each action could affect the price of a bet. For example, if you were betting on a player to win the next point and they were serving, we might know they win 80% of points on their first serve and only 40% of points on their second serve. It would make sense to back the player prior to his first serve to win the point. But, if they fail to get their first serve in, we may be looking to back the other player to win the point or lay the initial server is betting on exchanges.

It can get highly intricate when betting live on tennis, but it can also be potentially lucrative. As a word of advice if you are new, we would recommend sticking to just one betting market and studying how that may react within certain games. “To win the next point” is always a good place to start as it allows you to take current game trends into account with data that is readily and easily available online for free. As you become more confident and successful, you can then venture into different markets and bet types.

Betting on the Tournament Outright Winner

The tournament winner is simply where you bet on the player you think will win that tournament. If the player loses a match and gets knocked out, your bet will lose.

Paddy Power Women's Wimbledon Outright Betting

Match Winner Betting

As tennis is played almost 365 days of the year, the sport has become a massive pull for bookies and punters alike. Along with the tournament winner, match winner betting make up the two most popular betting markets for the sport, and make up a huge section of why so many punters bet on tennis.

The match winner is simply where you bet on the player to win a match. But, it’s worth noting for this your bet is actually on the player to progress to the next round, for the most part at least. This means that should a player retire or fail to even start the game due to injury or withdrawal, then the player going through will be deemed the winner.

10bet Tennis Match Betting

The key point to remember here is that if a player is withdrawn, bookies often have varying stances on when they pay out. Some bookies will simply need the match to start, whereas others will want at least 1 set or even 2 sets to be completed. Finally, some will ask that the full game is completed before paying out. If any of these circumstances fail to meet the criteria for said bookmaker, then the bet will be deemed void.

Strategy

As there are a so many events to choose from and so many surfaces that are played on around the world, the value isn’t always with the major tournaments. In fact, many professional bettors will actively avoid these games as they are markets that bookies have the smallest margins on.

Try to do your homework on which surfaces suit certain players, before drawing up a pool of players that might do well before the start of the tournament. You don’t necessarily need to back each one, but they could offer good value against weaker opponents as the tournament progresses.

Set Betting

Set betting can come in a range of different markets, but again, is another popular bet type for tennis. The most common is that of choosing the correct number of sets or even correct score for that game. In games that are best of three you are choosing between 2-0 or 2-1, but over the longer formats you are choosing between 3-0, 3-1, or 3-2 offering slightly more variations.

ComeOn Tennis Correct Score Betting

This market can give you some extra value if you find the match winner odds a little short. Variations of it include the over/under as well, which is where a bookmaker sets a line for the number of sets and you decide if there will be less or more.

Set Winner

Another market is that of the ‘set number’ winner, so this could be 1st set winner, 2nd set winner, 3rd set winner and so on. For this you are looking at choosing the player to win that set. The score of the manner of the victory is irrelevant, just simply the player.

ComeOn Tennis Set Betting

Total Sets

You’re also going to be able to bet on the number of sets won by each player. Again, the line will be set by the bookmaker and then you simply choose over or under. In singles matches, one player will be set a line at over and the other player will be set a line at under. This line is always 2.5 for best of 3 set matches.

ComeOn Tennis Total Sets Betting

Strategy

Set betting can be used effectively for players that are strong favourites to win a match. For example, if the 1st seed was playing the 100th seed in a match, the 1st seed is huge favourite to win and will offer no value from the match winner market. You’re likely going to get a better price placing on the under 2.5 sets (assuming best of 3 set match) in a game that they are likely going to win 2-0 against a much weaker opponent.

Total Games Betting

Game betting works in much the same way that set betting does, except for this you are betting on the number of games rather than the number of sets. Given that each set has to have at least 6 games, meaning a minimum of 12 total in a best of 3 set match, you’re able to get much more creative with your bets than with set betting.

NetBet Tennis Total Games Betting

The most common of these comes from the total games market. This can range from the total games within a certain set or the total games within a match. The bookmaker will set a series of lines for this bet and you simply need to choose the over or under as you please. The higher the line the higher the odds, generally speaking.

As an extension of this, you’re going to be able to bet on the total number of games within each set as well. It works just the same, in that the bookmaker sets a line and you simply choose the over or under for that line.

It’s worth noting that in the final sets for matches, there are no tiebreaks for most tournaments, meaning that the game needs to be decided by a player winning by 2 clear games. This means that sets can often see a huge number of games in the final set, so bear this in mind.

Strategy & Statistics

For these markets, the in-play section is where you can really utilise them at their best. Momentum is huge in tennis, so you can start to get an idea as the game pans out as to which way the game might go and in turn, how competitive the match is. More competitive matches mean a higher number of games, whereas one sided matches mean a small number of games.

At Wimbledon in 2010, John Isner and Nicolas Mahut played the longest game of tennis ever, with the final set eventually being won 70-68 and the match total in terms of games being that of 183!

Handicap Betting

Handicap betting might not seem all that obvious when it comes to betting on tennis, but it’s actually another popular market. The handicaps are often applied to the game betting segment, as mentioned above.

Ladbrokes Tennis Handicap Betting

Handicaps work as just that, a handicap to one of the players. The bookmaker will give a negative or positive number of games to each player and then it’s the punters job to back them. A typical example might be Player A -3.5 games and Player B +3.5 games.

The range of the handicap will vary, depending on the quality of each player and their chances of winning the game. Some bookmaker will allow a wider variation of handicaps, meaning that they could range from as little as 1.5 games, right up to 9.5 if there is a big gulf in class, with odds being set accordingly for each.

Useful Information

Playing Surfaces

The majority of events that are held on the men’s and women’s circuits are played on clay and hard courts. There are a handful of events from each that are held on grass, but this surface is definitely in the minority. The surfaces play out very differently from each other and rarely do you find players that are equally as comfortable on all three. In fact, certain hard courts or even clay court types can play very differently week in, week out, requiring players to quickly adjust depending on their environment.

Hard Courts

Tennis Hard Court Surface

Hard courts include the major events from both the men’s and women’s games. These include the likes of the World Tour Finals, Indian Wells, Miami Open, BNP Paribas Open and the Son Ericsson Open.

A hard court is usually made up of a concrete or asphalt foundation, which is then covered by a synthetic top. There are actually a number of ways in which they can make the top up and even the paint used to mark the court can have an effect on how they ball reacts to the surface.

Hard courts, in general play out much faster than the likes of grass or clay. The bounce is more consistent which allows players to manipulate the ball more with different kinds of spin. Hard court is the easiest base to maintain, which makes it popular, especially with lower ranked professional tennis tournaments.

Clay Courts

Line Marking on Tennis Clay Court

The best clay court tournaments include the likes of the Monte Carlo Masters, Madrid Open, Italian Open and the Mutua Madrid Open (women’s). Clay courts play out pretty slow as when the ball lands there are more particles to create friction, hence allowing the ball to grip more and come off slower.

The ability to slide on the surface has been an art that is perfected by the best players in the world and the amount of ground that players need to cover is much less than say, the hard courts. This means the surface is set up more for defensive type players who are able to grind out points, rather than play beautiful passing shots to win points.

Grass Courts

Tennis Racket on Grass Court

The final inclusion on the list is that of the grass courts. There are only a handful of grass events over the whole men’s and women’s schedule, including the likes of Eastbourne, Birmingham, UNICEF Open, Nottingham Open and Stuttgart Open.

Grass sees the ball skid off the surface more than normal and also includes a more inconsistent bounce than that of clay or the hard court due to the fact that it’s actually growing, so can only be controlled so much. The bounce is often low and the surface has been linked with players who are good are the serve-volley, getting into the net as soon as possible to try and win points.

Technology in Tennis

Tennis Ball Flight Hawk Eye Graphic

As with all sports, technology has started to play a massive role in tennis. One of the biggest innovations has come in the form of Hawk-Eye. This system tracks the ball off the racket and shows the exact point on the court that the ball has landed. It also takes into consideration the variations in shape of the ball after it has been hit and how it would reflect when hitting the surface, i.e. not a perfect circle, but instead more an oval shape.

It was first brought in around 2005 for the major tournaments, although it had been tested at events prior to that that. The structure now is that players are able to get two challenges in a game where they are able to ask the umpire to check to see if the ball was in or out, or more importantly, if the initial call was correct or not. If players are found to have a correct challenge then they do not lose a review, but if they have a failed challenge then they lose one review.

It’s worth noting that Hawk-Eye is used on both hard court and grass surfaces, but not clay. This is because with clay the ball makes an imprint on the surface, so the chair umpire is able to get onto the court to see exactly where the mark had been made and subsequently make the correct call. However, it has been argued that due to the speed in which the technology works and the accuracy (within 5% or about the length of the fluff on a tennis ball) that it now has, it should be considered for clay court matches as well.

Another is that of the net cord used. Previously, games would have one of the umpires sat along the net with one hand on it to feel if the ball flicked the net after a serve. If it did, the umpire would call “let” and the serve be retaken.

These days, the net has an electronic sensor in it that reacts anytime movement is felt when the ball hits it. This sensor then sounds to the chair umpire who is able to then call “let” when needed. It’s worth noting that this is only in play for serves and any time after the serve, the ball can hit the net and still land in.

Data

Tennis Match Statistics

Data collection has also massively benefitted from improvements in technology as well. This has meant that we are able to see real-time data on what’s happening in matches. This can include the number of forehand winners, backhand winners, first/second serve percentages, points won/lost on serve and also, paired with the likes of Hawk-Eye, where players are hitting the ball most often.

This has allowed players, especially professionals with greater access to the information, to improve how they play but also to allow them to prepare for how opponents play as well. This also works great for punters as well as much of this data can be found online. It then allows them to interoperate how matches might play out, therefore making more informed decisions on which markets to bet on for each game.

Tennis Associations

When it comes to the professional game there are two main bodies that run the elite tennis tours. For the men this is the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and for the women this is the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA). The sports governing body is the International Tennis Federation (ITF) which also organises certain tournaments including the Davis Cup and Fed Cup and collaborates with the ATP and WTA to run the Grand Slams.

Men’s Professional Tours

ATP Tour Men's Tennis Match on Clay

Axou, Wikimedia Commons

The men’s professional tennis game is made up of three main tours: ATP World Tour, ATP Challenge Tour and the ITF Men’s circuit. Each tour is separated by ranking, in that players will only qualify for events automatically based on their current World Ranking.

But, unlike most sports where the qualification into events is limited based on player rankings, in tennis players are actually obliged to play in certain events from each of the main tours. So, a player that is ranked number one in the world would be required to play in at least 1 event from the ATP World Tour, ATP Challenge Tour and the ITF Men’s Circuit. The events they would play would be the marquee events, with the highest prize money and ranking points on offer. This was brought in to try and increase exposure on all tours and also give players from the lower ranked tours the chance to play higher ranked players.

It’s also worth noting that most tournaments will allow qualifiers to enter and even wildcard selections to take place. This would mean that players might need to win two or three matches prior to the start of a tournament to gain entry into the event proper. This is the most logical way for players who are outside of the automatic qualifying spots to get into events.

Qualifying events usually take place in the days or even weeks leading up to that event, depending on how highly it is ranked. The current player ranking will have an effect on how many matches the player would need to win in order to gain entry, with lower ranked players entering earlier in the qualification process.

Even though a huge emphasis is put on the majors that take place each year, the men’s game has several events that run each week hosted around the week. The ITF Men’s Circuit for example often have multiple tournaments that they host on their own, with at least one from the ATP World Tour and the ATP Challenge Tour to accompany it. This has been purposely designed to allow professional players the best chance to earn a large number of ranking points in events that are relatively local.

ATP World Tour

The ATP World Tour is the highest ranked men’s tour on the circuit. These are ranked events which earn players ranking points and they take place all over the world, including the US, Monaco, Spain, Italy, Canada, China and France. It leads up to the World Tour Final, which we have spoken briefly about already in this article.

There are three tournament tiers – 1000, 500 and 250, the number represents the ranking points that are on offer if a player wins the event. As you can imagine, there are fewer number 1000 events than 500 and fewer 500 events than 250 events.

Prizemoney is the biggest difference between each of the events. These can hit the heights of $4.5million at Indian Wells (excluding Tour Finals) but generally includes several million dollars/Euro’s. That being said, even the 250 tournaments can see a big prize pool, with the Kremlin Cup held in Moscow offering up a $1,000,000 prize fund for the players.

Women’s Professional Tours

WTA Tour Women's Tennis Match

Eleodor, flickr

The Women’s game includes the WTA Tour and the ITF Women’s Circuit. The number of women-only events is less than that of the men with one less tour to accompany it, mainly because of the lower number of professionally ranked players.

But, as with the men’s tour, events are held on a weekly schedule, often with multiple events being held with each week.

The same format also carried over from the men’s game into the women’s game in that world rankings will influence on which players will be able to automatically play which event. Again, players outside of the automatic qualifying spots will still be able to enter via pre-qualification events if needed.

Another part that is the same as the men’s tour is the fact that the higher ranked women’s players will have to play some events on both tours to fulfil their playing rights.

WTA Tour

The WTA Tour is the pinnacle of the women’s game and is open only to highest ranked players in the world. What’s quite interesting to see is that the money on offer with the women’s game is very comparable to that of the men’s. In fact, their finale of the season, the Premier WTA Tour Championships, commands a $7,000,000 prize pool, some $2,500,000 more than that of the men’s tour finals.

Events are split up throughout the season, with at least 1 running each week of the main season. Each tournament is ranked in terms of the prizemoney that’s on offer, ranging from the Premier Mandatory, Premier 5, Premier 7000, Premier 600 and International. Events start in January and run through to October, when the season ending Tour Finals are played.

Major Tennis Tournaments

Australian Open

The Australian Open is the first Grand Slam event of the year, played in Melbourne in January when it’s nice and hot Down Under. It comprises mens and womens singles, doubles, mixed doubles and wheelchair events, with Novak Djokovic (six) and Serena Williams the most decorated champions of the Open Era. The tournament is played on a hard court, and so suite the power players who can hammer their serves but return well and put pressure on their opponent too.

French Open

The French Open is the first of the summer double-header of majors, played on the dusty red clay of Roland Garros in May and June. This surface is notoriously slow, which suits players with a lower centre of gravity and ability to play the angles; hence it is the most difficult to predict, and explains why Novak Djokovic, one of the greatest players of all time, is yet to win it. Rafa Nadal must feel that Paris is his second home having won here in nine of the last eleven years.

Wimbledon

Perhaps the most eagerly awaited event in the calendar, Wimbledon is the home of Pimms, strawberries & cream, lush green grass and the occasional game of tennis too. It is a highlight of the English summer in June/July, and has been home to some of the most iconic moments in the sport’s history: Boris Becker’s win aged just 17 in 1985, Goran Ivanisevic’s emotional triumph in 2001, Roger Federer equalling Pete Sampras’ record of seven titles at the All England Club….here’s to plenty more!

US Open

The last of the year’s Grand Slam events takes place at Flushing Meadows, New York City. Held in September, the US Open is the second of the major tournaments played on the hard courts, so it’s little surprise to learn that Roger Federer and Pete Sampras are the most decorated male champions in the event’s history with five wins. On the women’s side few can touch Serena Williams, who has won six titles here and reached eight finals in total.

ATP World Tour

The ATP World Tour Finals are the annual curtain call of the mens tennis season. Held at the O2 Arena in London each November, it is the eight players that feature the highest in the world rankings as of November that are invited. These are then split into two groups of four, with the winner of one group playing the runner-up of the second in each semi-final. The champion, which is usually Novak Djokovic (five titles and counting), trousers a cool $1 million in prize money.

Davis Cup

This is, essentially, the World Cup of tennis. Each year 130 countries from all over the world play each other in a straight knockout format, with the two left eventually meeting in the final in December. Within each fixture are five ‘rubbers’: each two nominates two singles players to do battle with the other country, then there’s a doubles tie, and then the singles fixtures are reversed. Unusually for Great Britain in major sporting competition, they actually tend to do quite well in this one.

Types Of Tennis Offer

The following is a quick guide to the types of offers that usually pop up when the majors roll around.

  • Money Back Offers – As with many other sports, bookies love offering money back offers on tennis bets, and these specials often come in the form of refunds of losing pre-tournament outright bets if a certain player wins (usually Andy Murray, but occasional one of the other main men like Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic). In particular matches, refunds might be offered on losing correct score bets if your player wins without losing a game or some other such scenario.
  • Enhanced Odds Offers – One of the favourite tennis betting promos among bookies in recent years has been to offer enhanced odds on Andy Murray to win a major… and then he won one; and then another. So while you might not get quite so many such offers in the future we think there will still be plenty of similar promotions to get your teeth into.
  • Mobile Specific Offers – As with other sports, bookies occasionally offer tennis betting offers that are open to mobile bettors only. These can come in various forms but the key is that you need to place the bet using a mobile or tablet in order to qualify. We anticipate the number of mobile specific offers will increase in the coming months and years as more and more punters choose to bet while out and about and the bookies vie for their custom.
  • Free Tennis Bets – Similar to the money back offers, bookmakers will often give free bets if your bet loses in the fifth set (or third for women), loses in a tiebreaker or loses after being in front. These offers are great because even though you’ve lost your bet you get a free bet to have a second bite of the betting cherry.

Whatever tennis bets you usually go for, be sure to check out the latest tennis betting offers listed on this page before you place your bets, especially in the days prior to a Grand Slam.