Tennis is one of the best sports to bet on if you are just starting out. There are only two players in a singles match, so the basic question of who will win is easy to follow. Matches happen almost every day of the year, from the Australian Open in January to the ATP Finals in November. And because the scoring works in points, games and sets, there are plenty of other ways to bet once you are comfortable. This guide covers the sites that handle tennis well and the rules worth knowing. For our full recommendations, see the main guide to the best betting sites.
All four sites are licensed by the Gambling Commission and offer the standard tennis markets. The differences lie in how many tournaments they cover, how many markets they offer on each match and how easy their in-play screens are to follow. If you only bet on the Grand Slams, any of them will do the job well.
Good sites for tennis betting
bet365
Best overall for tennis
Covers tournaments at every level, with a wide choice of in-play markets and streams.
Betfair
Best prices on big matches
The exchange is busy on major tennis and often has the biggest odds.
Sky Bet
Easiest for beginners
A clear layout that keeps the main markets simple to find.
Unibet
Good for smaller tournaments
Solid coverage beyond the Grand Slams, with a tidy app.
Tennis is also a good sport for learning how odds work. With two players and a clear result, it is easy to see how the prices reflect each player's chances, and how quickly those prices change during a match.
The tennis calendar
The men's ATP Tour and women's WTA Tour run for most of the year. The four Grand Slams are the biggest events: the Australian Open in January, the French Open at Roland Garros in late May and June, Wimbledon in late June and July, and the US Open in late August and September. Around them sit hundreds of smaller tournaments at different levels.
For betting, the level of a tournament matters. At the Grand Slams, bookmakers offer the widest range of markets and their prices are at their most competitive. At smaller events, markets may be limited to the match winner and a few others.
- Grand Slam noun
- One of the four most important tennis tournaments: the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. Men play best of five sets at these events, rather than the usual best of three.
Men's and women's tours
The ATP and WTA tours run separately for most of the year, though some tournaments host both. Bookmakers cover both tours in similar depth at the big events. At smaller tournaments, coverage can vary, so if you follow a particular tour, check that your bookmaker covers it well.
Doubles
Doubles matches are also available to bet on, although markets are usually more limited. Doubles results can be harder to predict, because partnerships change and form is less well documented.
Main tennis betting markets
Match winner
The simplest tennis bet. You pick which player will win the match. Because there are only two options, the odds are easy to understand.
Set betting
You predict the exact score in sets, such as 2-0 or 2-1 in a best-of-three match. This pays more than a simple match bet because it is harder to get right.
Total games
You bet on whether the total number of games in the match will be over or under a figure set by the bookmaker. It is useful when you have a view on how close a match will be, rather than who will win.
Handicap betting
A handicap gives one player a head start in games or sets. It makes a one-sided match more interesting to bet on, because the favourite must win by a certain margin for your bet to succeed.
Worked example. You back a player with a handicap of minus 3.5 games. If they win the match 6-3, 6-4, they have won 12 games to their opponent's 7, a margin of 5. That is more than 3.5, so your bet wins.
Outright betting
As well as betting on individual matches, you can bet on who will win a whole tournament. These are called outright bets. The odds can be attractive, especially on players who are not among the favourites, but your money is tied up until the tournament ends, and one bad day can knock your player out.
The season also follows the surfaces. The early months are mostly hard courts, the spring moves onto clay leading up to the French Open, a short grass season runs around Wimbledon, and the rest of the year returns to hard courts. Knowing where you are in the calendar helps you judge which players are likely to be in form.
Why the court surface matters
Tennis is played on three main surfaces: hard courts, clay and grass. Each suits different styles. Clay is slower and rewards patient players who can rally for a long time. Grass is quicker and favours big serves. Hard courts sit somewhere in between.
Some players are far stronger on one surface than another. Before betting, it is worth looking at how each player has done on the surface being used, not just their overall record. Many betting sites show recent form and surface records in their match statistics.
Form and fitness
Beyond surfaces, recent form and fitness matter a great deal. A player coming back from injury or who has played long matches in previous rounds may be more tired than their ranking suggests. Checking recent results and match lengths before betting gives you a better picture than rankings alone.
Retirement rules: the one to check first
This is the most important tennis rule for beginners, and it differs between bookmakers. Sometimes a player stops partway through a match, usually because of injury. This is called a retirement. What happens to your bet depends on the bookmaker's rules.
How different sites handle it
Some bookmakers settle the bet as long as one set has been completed, so the player who advances is treated as the winner. Others void the bet and return your stake unless the match is completed. Some settle once the first ball has been struck. The rules can also differ between the match winner market and other markets, such as set betting.
Check before you bet. Look up the tennis rules in your bookmaker's terms. Knowing whether your bet stands or is voided when a player retires can save a lot of confusion.
Walkovers
A walkover happens when a player withdraws before a match starts. In that case, bets on the match are normally voided and stakes returned, but outright bets on the tournament may be treated differently. Your bookmaker's terms will explain exactly what happens.
In-play tennis betting
Tennis is ideal for in-play betting because the odds change with every point. A break of serve can swing the match, and a player who loses the first set can still come back. Bookmakers offer markets on the next game, the next set and even the next point.
The pace can be fast, which makes it easy to place more bets than you intended. If you enjoy in-play tennis, set yourself a limit for the match before it starts, and stick to it however exciting it gets.
- Break of serve phrase
- When a player wins a game while their opponent is serving. Serving is usually an advantage, so a break can be a turning point in a match.
Why tennis odds move so quickly
Serving gives a big advantage, so the odds in tennis react strongly to breaks of serve. A player who is broken early in a set may see their odds lengthen sharply, even if they are still the better player. That is part of what makes in-play tennis exciting, and part of why it is easy to make hasty bets.
Watching tennis on betting sites
Many bookmakers stream tennis to customers with a funded account or a bet on the match. Coverage is widest for smaller ATP and WTA events and lower-level tournaments. The Grand Slams are usually shown on television rather than by bookmakers, because of broadcasting rights.
Even without a stream, most sites have a live scoreboard showing the score point by point, along with statistics such as first serve percentage and break points won.
Keep an eye on the weather at outdoor events, too. Rain delays can interrupt matches for hours, and the break can change the momentum completely. Most bookmakers keep bets open through delays, but check the terms if a match is postponed to another day.
Sensible habits for tennis betting
Stick to players and tournaments you know. Tennis has hundreds of players and matches every day, and it is tempting to bet on matches you know nothing about just because they are on. Your bets will be more considered, and more enjoyable, if you follow what you are betting on.
Keep your bets simple at first. The match winner market is the easiest to understand. Once you are comfortable, try set betting or total games. Leave the more complicated markets until you are confident with the basics.
Finally, remember that nobody wins every tennis bet, however well they know the sport. Upsets happen regularly, even at the Grand Slams. Enjoy the matches, keep your stakes sensible and treat any winnings as a bonus rather than an expectation.
If you want to learn more, many bookmakers publish short previews of big matches, and the tours' own websites have detailed statistics for every player. Using them before you bet is a good habit to build early.
Match integrity
Tennis has had problems with match fixing, particularly at lower levels of the sport where prize money is small. The International Tennis Integrity Agency investigates suspicious activity and can ban players. Licensed bookmakers also report unusual betting patterns. For ordinary punters, it is one more reason to focus on bigger, better-known tournaments, where markets are well-watched and odds are more reliable.
It helps to think about when you bet, too. Many tennis tournaments take place in other time zones, so matches can run late into the night in Britain. Betting when you are tired rarely leads to good decisions. If a match is on at two in the morning, it is usually better to check the result when you wake up.
Staying in control
Because tennis runs almost all day, every day, it is one of the easiest sports to over-bet on. Set a weekly deposit limit and consider using a reality check, which reminds you how long you have been logged in. If you notice that you are betting on matches at all hours, or chasing losses from an earlier match, it may be time to take a break.
Common questions
Which betting site is best for tennis?
bet365 has the widest tennis coverage and in-play markets. Betfair often has the best prices on big matches, and Sky Bet is the easiest to use for beginners.
What happens to my bet if a tennis player retires?
It depends on the bookmaker. Some settle the bet if one set has been completed, others void it unless the match finishes. Check your bookmaker's tennis rules.
What is set betting?
Set betting means predicting the exact score in sets, such as 2-0 or 2-1. It pays more than the match winner market because it is harder to get right.
Can I watch tennis on betting sites?
Many sites stream smaller ATP and WTA events to customers with a funded account. The Grand Slams are usually shown on television instead.
Rhys Maddocks
Consumer writer and editor
Rhys spent twenty years as a consumer affairs journalist in the North West, covering everything from energy bills to bank charges. He now writes about betting for people who are new to it, or who want to understand what a family member has signed up for.