Professional tennis is finally getting back into the swing of things and with it, the return of some of the sport’s top names. A couple of months ago, it looked incredibly unlikely that we’d see another Grand Slam tournament this year with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, so it’s a credit to the organisers who have managed to give the upcoming US Open the green light at the end of August.
This is as good a time as any to get into tennis betting, click here for more info, as fans will no doubt be trying to predict who will win the title at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre. With the disruption caused by the pandemic, there might just be some value around in the market. Here, we’ll take a look and find you some tips for the upcoming US Open.
It will be no surprise to hear that current world number one Novak Djokovic is the clear favourite to win the men’s tournament outright. The 33 years old Serbian has won the US Open three times in his illustrious career, the last time coming in 2018. He also won the last Grand Slam to take place before the lockdown hit, the Australian Open, beating Dominic Thiem in a five-set thriller in Melbourne.
If there’s one thing we know about Djokovic, it’s that he will make sure he is 100% fit for this and that’s reflected in the pretty skinny odds on offer for him to triumph (best odds 6/4 at time of writing).
With the favourite being such short odds, it could pay to shop around for some value. Rafael Nadal is the reigning US Open champion, after beating Daniil Medvedev over five sets back in 2019. He would have been going for his fifth title at Flushing Meadows, but has decided to pull out of the tournament along with five-time champion Roger Federer.
That could be a blessing in disguise for last year’s finalist Medvedev, who is best priced 7/1 to win the title in the absence of Nadal and Federer. The Russian will also take heart from the fact that he beat Djokovic on a hard surface at the Cincinnati Masters last year, however, the Serbian does hold a 4-2 advantage on the head-to-head record.
Thiem is yet to win a Grand Slam title, however, the 26 year old Austrian is always there about in the latter stages, he’ll be keen to avenge the Australian Open final defeat to Djokovic earlier this year. The world number three is best priced at 7/1, should you fancy him to land his maiden Grand Slam title.
The one to have an eye on heading into the US Open is Stefanos Tsitsipas. The 22 year old has been a revelation over the last 18 months and has many tipping him up as a future world number one. Already the highest-ranking Greek player ever, Tsitsipas only has a single ATP event title to his name, the 2019 ATP Finals, where he dispatched Thiem in three sets.
That inaugural victory came on the hard surface and it appears from his performances to be his most favourable. He’s played Djokovic five times so far in his career, winning twice (both on a hard court), so we’re backing a big upset at handsome odds of 12/1 best price.
Strategies for Betting on the Next Tennis Event
Here are tips you can put to work for your next tennis bet:
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Interpret Form and Stats Correctly
Before you choose a player to wager on in a match, you must have done a bit of background study. When a player begins to perform poorly, you need to study the reason for the bad form. For instance, it is possible for players to nurse injuries without the public’s knowledge. Knowing this and other factors will help you make the right bet.
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Bet on points
Betting on points is kind of faster-paced than betting on the overall result of the match. It is also more unpredictable and this makes it more exciting. This strategy is quite riskier than others as even the biggest players make errors and mess up points at times.
However, sportsbooks generally do not let punters bet on the next point. Nevertheless, they tend to compel the punters to bet on every two points. The reason is that sometimes there are delays in broadcasting which could lead to an expensive error. This tends to affect the sportsbooks greatly if punters are watching and betting quickly than they update the odds.
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Bet on Sets
Betting on the outright winner of a match may be so easy, thus, betting on sets appears to be another great option even though it is trickier. A way of getting this done is placing bets on the right set amounts. Certainly, it depends on the kind of match – best of 5 or best of 3. The possible amount of outcomes are 2-0, 2-1, 1-2, or 0-2 for a best of 3 sets. For a best of 5 setters, a certain amount of outcomes are 3-0, 3-1, 3-2, 3-3, 1-3, or 0-3.
It is quite obvious that every bettor will bet on the favourite. But by what scoreline? A very popular tennis bet strategy is to place a straight-set win. But how do you know the matches that will give you the best chance of winning?
Firstly, you should pick a game with a solid favourite. This gives you better chances than a match having two good players. Also, you have to check the player’s form on the articular surface as some players favour a surface over others. With this, you are more likely to have more success.
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The winning margin
Another good way of placing bets on a set rather than a simple scoreline is checking the margin of winning in the first set. Instead of placing a bet on the match outcome, you can just wager that the favourite will be victorious in the first set by six games to two. This strategy gives you better and bigger odds than the outright match win.