Best Tennis Betting Sites in the UK 2024 - Punters.pub (original) (raw)
After the best bookmakers for tennis betting? Course you are. Here are seven of the best.
Every tennis betting site covers the men’s ATP Tour extensively but BetVictor does a great job of offering plenty of matches on the Tour below it, the Challenger Tour. A good knowledge of the lesser-known players can allow you to back these under-the-radar players at great tennis betting odds and get one over the bookie.
We’re big fans of a good Cash Out product here at Punters Pub and that’s certainly what you can find here at Betway. By using the Cash Out you can place a bet at any time, whether pre-match or in-play, and then choose to bank your profit, or in some cases, limit your losses. Thanks to a good Cash Out feature at Betway with most tennis bets being eligible, you’re in complete control.
Did you just place a tennis bet on any market at odds of 4/1 or greater? Great! You’ve just won yourself a free bet for 5GBP as long as your own bet was for 10GBP or more. This offer can be claimed once a day every day, giving you more cash to play with in addition to your initial winnings. This offer is actually available on all sports and that obviously includes tennis!
Being able to watch tennis events on livestreaming is a big plus point and few do it as well or as extensively as Ladbrokes. Whereas other sites limit it to only the biggest matches at the biggest tournaments, Ladbrokes cover most tennis games of any importance from all around the world. Both for the men’s tours and the women’s. Not only is their coverage extensive but the quality is very high.
Bet Builders are a staple at most betting sites these days but did you now that Bet365 is a very rare example of one that allows you to place them on tennis, as well? You do now. This allows you to place several bets on the same tennis match and enjoy the game to the fullest with every point counting for something.
Several of the best tennis betting sites offer betting boosts but that’s generally just on the winner of the match. Parimatch have gone a step further by offering tennis betting boosts on lots of different markets across several matches on a daily basis. A great way of keeping things fresh and interesting, as well as providing tennis punters with greater value.
Betting on favourites isn’t for everyone but if you’re in that way inclined, William Hill is the place to do it. Whereas some of the best tennis betting sites are a little scared to lay decent odds on big favourites such as Novak Djokovic or Casper Ruud, William Hill are happy to. Sometimes they’ll be loving the upset but on other occasions, you’ll be the one laughing your way to the bank thanks to the better than-average tennis betting odds on them.
How to Bet on Tennis?
If you’re new to online tennis betting, here’s what you need to know and do to get the most out of your betting experience.
#1- Choose a bookmaker
The best bookmakers for tennis betting have already been listed above. These are the ones that tick the most boxes for tennis betting overall.
The best tennis betting sites tend to offer the most matches, the greatest variety of markets, a top live betting product, generous tennis odds and livestreaming of selected events. As a bonus, they may also have special tennis bonuses!
Read our reviews of each one and decide which one is best for you. Or better still, pick a couple so you have greater flexibility when it comes to your online tennis betting.
#2 – Do your research
Everyone will have their preferred manner of doing their research on tennis betting. For some it’s simply a case watching a lot of matches on an ongoing basis. For others it’s a case of studying stats such as head-to-heads, first-serve percentages and break point conversion numbers.
But don’t underestimate the value of the best tennis betting tips from the top tipsters. There are some great recommendations on some of the best tennis betting sites from real experts with proven track records. So, find out who can be trusted and don’t be afraid to follow their suggestions.
#3 – Get betting
Head to the tennis section of your chosen bookie and select the tournament you’re interested in. There will be a series of tournament markets like who will win the tournament, or who will make the final. For the Grand Slams you’ll find a load of other specials like who will serve the most aces.
Then of course there are the individual matches. Popular markets include the match winner market, different handicaps, set betting, the correct score of the first set and the total number of games.
Choose the market you want to bet on, select your stake and process your bet. Remember to use any tennis bonuses such as free bets you may have available to use.
Then of course there are in-play markets to look forward to…
Tennis In-Play Betting
Like just about any other sport these days, a huge part of online tennis betting involves in-play betting.
In other words, betting once the match has got underway till the match is won.
For the most part, you’ll find all the same markets that were available as pre-match markets and you may even find a few that are only available in live betting. An example of that is who will win the next game.
The great thing about in-play tennis betting is that it gives you a chance to assess what might happen next based on what TV pictures or in-running stats are telling you.
For example, even if a player is 1-0 down in sets, they may be finding their rhythm and playing better than their opponent but just aren’t able to convert their break points. At this stage the tennis betting odds may be very high on the player who is 1-0 down and may therefore provide an excellent opportunity for you.
In-play betting may also provide a good opportunity for you to…hedge your bets. If you had a really big bet on a player to win the match and they’re ahead, now might be the time to back the other player as a massive outsider so you don’t lose anything, or allow you to make a profit on whoever ends up winning.
Biggest Tennis Tournaments
The tennis calendar is dominated by the four Grand Slams that are well distributed over the course of the calendar year. Here they are, plus a bonus event to be aware of.
Australian Open
Taking place between mid-January and the end of the month, the Australian Open is the first Grand Slam of the year. It’s held in Melbourne Park, is played on a hard surface and their day matches run through the night in the UK, with their night matches being our morning over in the UK. Players require a good all-round game to do well here and if they’re in action during the day session may have to battle extreme heat on occasions. So beware of players who struggle in particularly hot conditions.
French Open
Taking place between the end of May and start of June, it’s played at Roland Garros in Paris. Of the four it’s the one played on what is by far the slowest surface, clay. So past champions have been players who are clay-court specialists, meaning they need to be extremely consistent from the baseline, creative when it comes to drop shots and possess great stamina as points tend to be much longer. In turn, big servers tend to find their powerful serves are less dominant on this surface. Paris is one hour ahead of the UK meaning that fans of online tennis betting can enjoy all the action throughout the day.
Wimbledon
Arguably the most prestigious of the lot, and the only one with a strict dress code: players have to be dressed all in white! It takes place at the All England Club in south-west London between the end of June and the beginning of July. This is the one for the big servers and the net players who can take advantage of the fastest surface of any Grand Slam (grass) to fire down big serves and win cheap points that way or rush to the net to finish off the point. But the grass hasn’t been as quick as in previous years meaning all-round players have had a decent shot at glory as well, particularly in the women’s draw. Though the women’s draw has seen several different winners over the past few years, it’s been a different story in the men’s with Novak Djokovic dominating it by winning all of the last four editions and six of the last eight.
The US Open
Played in Flushing Meadows in New York, it’s the last Slam of the year and takes place in between the last week of August and the middle of September. It’s played on hard court meaning the most successful players here need to be good servers, be consistent from the baseline in defence and be able to play the big winners when needed. The action is divided into a day session (late UK afternoon) and a night session (evening and middle of the night in the UK) with the men’s final played Sunday night-Monday morning in the UK. In some ways it’s the hardest of the four to predict in terms of the winner meaning tennis betting fans can find greater value on the winner market.
Queen’s Club Championship (Cinch Championships)
Like Wimbledon, it’s played in south London and on grass. It’s very much a warmup for Wimbledon and generally takes place two weeks before it as the first chance for players to transition from clay to grass. It’s a ‘men only’ event and the grass tends to be quicker than at SW19, meaning the big servers have even more of an advantage. Players who do well here tend to also have positive results when moving on to Wimbledon and their winner market tennis odds generally reflect that.
Cinch Championships official site
Tennis Betting Markets
These days the best bookmakers for tennis betting offer literally hundreds of tennis betting markets per game. We can’t cover them all but here are some of the most popular ones.
- Tournament winner- Who will go on to be crowned champion of that particular tournament? Bookies tend to suspend the market while matches are in play and update the odds in between the rounds.
- Match winner- By far the most popular of all. Who will win a particular match?
- Set betting– What will be the exact score when it comes to sets? 2-1? 2-0? 1-2? Remember that Grand Slams are best-of-five while matches at all other tournaments are best-of-three.
- Most aces- Which player will serve the most aces throughout the match? Remember that for it to be an ace, the returner can’t touch the ball at all. An unreturned serve where they do isn’t considered an ace.
- Total Games- When you add up all the games won by both players, how many are there? This market is often a two-runner market where you have to bet on over/under a number of games. E.g., Over/Under 21.5 games.
- **Tie break?-**Will one of the sets be decided by a tie break? Yes, or no?
- Handicap- A head start of x number of games is given to the outsider. For example, outsider Player B may be given a +3.5 games handicap with the favourite Player A given a -3.5 games handicap. The two bets are generally both available at around 1.9**.** At the end of the match, the handicap is applied to the number of games won by each player to work out which of the two handicaps won. In this case, Player A would need to have won by 4 or more games for the handicap bet on them to be a winner. The bet on Player B would win as long as they won the match, or lost by less than 4 games in total.
Tennis Betting Tips from Our Experts
As with any sport you’re going to bet on, there are specific details you should know about and follow that are unique to that particular sport. Here are the top tennis betting tips top follow:
- Surface is king– Playing on grass compared to clay in particular, are practically two different sports. Even though the tennis betting odds offered by tennis betting sites reflect that, sometimes they don’t reflect them enough. One of the best tennis betting tips is to back underdogs who love a particular surface to beat favourites who don’t enjoy playing on that surface.
- Beware the injured tennis player- Sometimes players can appear to be injured and their in-play odds suggest they’re almost certainly going to lose. But that isn’t always the case. Medical treatment or just ‘running off’ an injury can allow them to recover so don’t always assume their injury is as bad as it looks.
- Check your feed- TV picture or livestreaming feeds can be delayed in relation to the live action. If the tennis live betting odds look downright wrong, it might be that the pictures you’re seeing are 15-20 seconds slower than the actual game so try to test the feed for delays.
- Back the break-point saver- Some players with particularly strong serves have a talent for saving break points time and time again. Identify which players those are in advance and back them when they’re at break point down in live betting. If they can save that break point, you’ll have got yourself a good bet.
- The five-set specialist- Some male players have unusually high levels of stamina and fighting qualities, meaning they have excellent records in Grand Slam matches that go to five sets. If you know who they are, back them in live betting at decent odds against players with poorer five-set records who may be favourites based on reputation.
- The overrated home favourite- Some tennis betting sites give a little too much importance to the player in action in front of their home crowd. Home support goes some way to helping their cause but not all the way. Ask yourself: if they weren’t at home, would they still be available at those (relatively) short odds?
- The draw isn’t everything- When betting on the tournament winner market check out the draw to see if your player is likely to have a tough path to the final. If it’s tough, don’t let that alone put you off. You’ll get bigger odds on the back of that and a surprise here and there could see your player have an easier route to the final than at first seemed.
Bottom Line On Tennis Betting
So that’s your guide to tennis betting done. Here are the key takeaways.
- For most betting sites in the UK, it will be the third or fourth most popular sport to bet on.
- It’s well covered on TV and livestreaming, so in many cases you can watch the action while you bet on it.
- Tennis punters can often claim special tennis bonuses such as free bets, particularly around the four Grand Slams.
- There are some top tennis tipsters out there so it could pay to follow the best tennis betting tips of the ones with proven track records.
- When betting in-play be aware that your feed may be slow in comparison to the live action.