Tennis is the world’s most popular individual sport. According to statistics, its fanbase amounts to 1 billion people. The tennis betting market has grown substantially in recent years.
More and more fans of the racket sport engage in sports betting. Bookmakers provide odds for plenty of tennis events. Tennis fans can pick from various betting markets, and among the most widespread ones is total games betting.
Tennis Scoring System
At first glance, tennis is a straightforward and easy-to-understand sport.
However, it has a unique scoring system that sports fans should be aware of if they want to be successful bettors. Tennis matches consist of three components – a game, a set, and a match.
A game continues until a player scores 4 points, while a set is a collection of games. The set ends when a player wins six games or more.
Most tennis matches are played in a best-of-three format, meaning a player must win 2 sets to win the match.
If a match is played in a best-of-five sets format, a player must win at least 3 sets to win the match. To win the set, a player must win at least 6 games, with a margin of at least 2 games over the opponent.
A player must score at least 4 points to win a game. Interestingly, the first three points in tennis are 15, 30, and 40.
If the score is 40-40, this is called deuce, and a player must win two consecutive points to win the game. If the game score in a set is 6-6, there is a tiebreaker round.
Over/Under Betting Explained
In tennis total sets bet, the wager is placed on the number of games or sets that will take place in the match.
Tennis fans have to predict whether there will be more or fewer games or sets in the match than the number suggested by the bookie.
In a best-of-three tennis match format, the lines offered will be Over 2.5 sets or Under 2.5 sets.
If you wager your money on Over 2.5, and 3 sets are played, you win. Assuming you bet on Under 2.5 sets, you win if a player wins two sets in a row, in other words, the match ends in straight sets.
Over/Under Betting Strategy for Tennis Fans
Tennis fans can place an Over/Under bet on the number of games that will take place during the match.
A set consists of 6 to 12 games, and the tiebreak is the 13th game. In a close match, the over/under threshold figure is larger because the number of games is expected to be more.
In more one-sided games, that number will be lower, because fewer games will, most likely, take place.
When the two players are even in skill, the match is likely to be close. In this case, the Over/Under amount is 23.5 or 24.5 for a best-of-three format, and punters are advised to place an Over bet.
But if one of the players is better than the other one, opt for the Under bet. If you wager on over 23.5 for a given match, you will win if the total number of games played is 24 or more.
Assuming you bet on the under 23.5, you win if the games in the match are 23 or less.
The initial odds for the Over/Under bet in tennis are 17/20. However, the betting lines change according to the total amount of bets placed on each side.
After all, bookies use betting lines to encourage betting action on both sides. Many sportsbooks accept in-play bets on various tennis events.
What makes in-play betting on tennis even more exciting is that the odds change quickly as the game progresses.