When you think of sports betting, the likes of football, boxing and horse racing may come to mind, but tennis is actually one of the most popular sports betting markets in the UK. The fast-paced nature of the sport is not only great for spectators, it also makes for an interesting array of betting opportunities for sports punters. But where’s the best place to make these bets? We’ve got the answer.
There are a few different factors you should consider when you’re choosing where to bet on tennis- from odds to banking options, and from bonuses to betting markets. Our list of the top tennis betting sites makes things a whole lot easier, and our expert reviews help you compare to find the best betting sites for you. Want to learn a little more about betting on tennis before you put your money on the line? Let’s dive right in.
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Tennis Competitions
The most prestigious and best-known tennis tournaments are the Grand Slams, where the best in the business go head to head. These are the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US open. Played from January to September, each event lasts around two weeks. This may sound like a relatively short time, but plenty happens in these two weeks- men’s and women’s singles, men’s and women’s doubles, mixed doubles, junior competitions and more, which means there are plenty of markets for you to bet on.
But the tennis tournaments don’t stop there. There are also plenty of other tournaments throughout the year, from the ATP and WTA world tour to the Challenger Tour, and the ITF circuits. You can also bet on international tournaments, like the Davis Cup, held annually and known as the “World Cup of tennis”. The same markets are generally offered across all tournaments, though it’s up to each online bookmaker to decide which markets punters can bet on.
Here’s a breakdown of the main competitions featured at tennis betting sites.
Wimbledon
Founded in 1877, Wimbledon is the oldest tennis tournament in the world. It takes place at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in June and July of each year. The grass court tournament was most recently won by Novak Djokovic, his seventh triumph in this competition. The ladies’ singles winner was Elena Rybakina, who won her first major title.
Australian Open
Melbourne’s Australian Open started back in 1905 and was originally played on a grass surface. Since 1988, it’s been played on a hard court — a blue GreenSet since 2020. Novak Djokovic leads the way with the most Australian Open men’s singles title wins at nine in total, while Rafael Nadal won the 2022 tournament. Ashleigh Barty is the reigning champion in the women’s singles.
French Open
Also known as Roland Garros, the French Open was founded in 1891 and has been played on clay since 1908. Because of the slower pace and higher bounce on a clay court and the use of best-of-five-set men’s single matches, the French Open is considered the most physically demanding tennis competition. Rafael Nadal holds the record for the most men’s singles wins with 14, while you have to go back a bit further to find the women’s record holder — Chris Evert has seven wins spanning the 1970s and ‘80s.
US Open
The inaugural US Open took place in 1881 and is played annually in Queens, New York. Emma Raducanu brought joy to the British game when she became the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam after beating Leylah Fernandez in the 2021 US Open final. Iga Świątek won the most recent women’s final, while Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz is the current men’s holder.
ATP and WTA World Tour
The ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) and WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) world tours comprise several tennis tournaments across the calendar. The eight top-ranked players at the end of the tour go through to the ATP and WTA Finals, where they compete in two groups to make it through to the knockout semi finals and final.
Challenger Tour
The ATP Challenger Tour is the tier below the ATP Tour. It generally includes lower-ranked and younger players looking to work their way up to the ATP Tour. Players can earn ranking points on the Challenger Tour and become eligible for qualification for the ATP Tour next time around.
ITF Circuits
The ITF World Tennis Tour is another series of tennis tournaments for lower-ranked players. Administered by the International Tennis Federation (ITF), these tournaments contribute to the ATP rankings that are subsequently used for the more prestigious Challenger Tour and ATP Tour.
The Davis Cup
If you’re used to watching team sports, the Davis Cup could be one to check out at tennis betting sites. It’s essentially the World Cup of tennis, as it features a whole host of countries worldwide. Canada are the 2022 champions, while the most successful team since the tournament’s foundation in 1900 is the United States with 32 titles.
Laver Cup
Another popular team tennis tournament is the much newer Laver Cup, which was first held in 2017. It’s reminiscent of golf’s Ryder Cup, as it pits Team Europe against Team World each year. It’s played on a hard indoor court and was dominated by Team Europe until 2022, when Team World took the crown the first time.
Market Options
There’s a wide range of markets available at tennis betting sites. The most simple bets are those made on the victors of individual matches and outright bets on tournament winners, but you can also bet on individual moments within games. Let’s have a look at what’s on offer on the tennis betting market.
Match Betting
This is the simplest market out there and it’s made even simpler by the fact that tennis matches can’t end in a draw, using a tie breaker to decide a victor if two players can’t be separated. So, unlike with football betting, you only have two possible choices when wagering on the winner of a tennis match: player A or player B, or team A and team B if you’re betting on doubles matches.
Tournament Betting
Professional tennis primarily consists of knockout-style tournaments. As such, there are tournaments all year round and plenty of opportunities to bet on outright winners. Leading players like Casper Ruud, Carlos Alcaraz, Iga Świątek, and Ons Jabeur are the current tournament favourites — but there are plenty of upsets in tennis, so betting on an outsider to go all the way is still a viable option.
Set Betting
Set betting refers to any bets placed on markets that are related to individual sets within a match. While you can place set bets before a match, it’s also a great option for betting in-play. For example, you can predict who’ll win the next set, and what the score of the next set will be.
Accumulators
Accumulators have become one of the most popular features of modern online betting and they are a big part of tennis betting markets. The real beauty of accumulators is the potentially huge winnings you can make from a relatively small outlay. By piling a series of different bets into one acca, all the odds are multiplied together, exponentially increasing your potential winnings.
The one downside to accumulators is that in order for you to win big, all your selections will need to come in. That’s why the best online bookies offer acca insurance, which gives your initial stake back as a free bet if just one selection lets you down. This isn’t available on all markets and obviously depends the individual betting site, but it’s a great safety net should you fall short.
Over/Under
In this market you are not betting on the winner of the game, but the length of time you think it will take to end. In a 3 set format match, for example, if you think it will end in straight sets then you bet under 2.5 sets. If you think it will be a more competitive match, however, then you bet over 2.5 sets.
Correct Score
The correct score market is much like the over/under, only more specific. You’re not just betting on the rough length of the match, but on what the exact score will be. This can be a much trickier bet to make in the latter stages of tournaments as the matches are likely to be very competitive. Nonetheless, the potential winnings from this market can be huge.
Statistic Betting
This market is the most varied, allowing punters to bet on the specific intricacies of each match. You can bet on a seemingly endless amount of possibilities, from first break of serve and first match point to fastest serve and first double fault. The best tennis betting sites have options for in-play betting on tennis events, which means you can get involved even when the action is already underway. With such a fast-paced sport, in-play betting can get very exciting!
In-Play Betting
The best tennis betting sites offer great in-play markets, which can also be referred to as live betting. They give you the ability to place bets on a match while it is already happening, meaning that if you forgot to place a wager before the match or just didn’t fancy the odds, there’s still a chance to pick up some decent winnings.
In-play betting also gives you the opportunity to get better value odds from a bet. Say you want to back Iga Świątek in a game, but her serve is broken early on. She is still favourite to win, but betting on her now offers a far better return.
Live Streaming
Live streaming has become a central part to a lot of online betting recently with the best sites giving you the option to stream high profile tennis matches from wherever you are in the world. Live streaming can really enhance your betting experience by allowing you to make a more informed bet when playing on the in-play market. You will most likely need to have a funded account or have placed within the last 24 hours to be able to access this feature, but you will still be able to watch some of the best tennis in the world without paying a monthly subscription.
How to Pick a Winner
As with all sports, picking a winner when you bet on tennis isn’t straight forward. While you’ll never find the secret to making a winning bet every time, there are a few factors that could help you make a more informed bet. Let’s take a look:
Get to Know Tennis Basics
You don’t need to be an expert to bet on tennis, but it helps to have a basic understanding of the game. This allows you to make bets based on current performance and gameplay- especially useful if you want to try your chances at live betting.
Check Out World Rankings
World rankings are a pretty good place to start when it comes to understanding how strong players are. However, it’s important to remember that these rankings are based on performance over an extended period of time, and won’t reflect a players’ strength against a particular opponent.
Read Recent Match Reports
Reports give you an indication as to how a player is performing currently, and any weaknesses or injuries they may have experienced, as well as current playing styles. From these reports you’ll understand how players perform against one another and how playing styles change according to opponents.
Tips from tennis betting pundits can be a good place to start, but you should always take these with a pinch of salt. We’d recommend doing your own research, and using tips and statistics to build on your own knowledge, rather than relying on tipsters.
Court Surface and Style of Play
In tennis, game styles are often suited to a particular surface such as hard court, grass court, clay court, etc. It is for this reason that it’s not unusual for lower-ranked clay-court specialists to beat top-level players at the French Open, for example, which is played on clay.
New Tennis Betting Sites
Because the UK is one of the most active and profitable betting markets in the world for the bookmakers, new betting sites are constantly being established. In order to attract new players, new tennis betting sites will offer player-friendly bonuses and promotions. So if you’re looking to switch things up from the more established names in the industry, new betting sites are a great way to do that.
Mobile Tennis Betting
All the best tennis betting sites have optimised versions of their websites available for mobile users. Mobile betting typically offers the full range of features you’d find on desktop, such as the ability to live stream matches, cash out bets, place live wagers, and much more.
Mobile sites are operating system agnostic, meaning they’re fully compatible with both iOS and Android mobiles and tablets. Expertly designed by top developers, mobile tennis betting sites are often even easier to browse and navigate than their desktop counterparts.
Benefits of Downloading a Tennis Betting App
While you may be happy accessing tennis betting sites from your mobile browser, we’d always recommend downloading the app if there’s one available. The best tennis betting sites offer an app for iOS and Android users, available to download from the Apple and Google Play stores. Here are the main benefits of downloading a tennis betting app, along with a couple of potential drawbacks.
Pros
- Enabling push notifications ensures you won’t miss out on any promotions
- Mobile apps typically have faster loading times and slicker interfaces
- Apps are quicker to access as they’re just one click away
Cons
- Some sites only offer an app for iOS but not Android, or vice versa
- An app will use up storage space on your device
Betting Tennis Betting Apps
Tennis fans have loads of different options when it comes to betting apps. All the major tennis bookmakers have native apps available for download, offering access to the full range of markets and bonus offers. Check out some of the best options below.
- Bet365 – One of the most widely used tennis bookmakers, Bet365’s mobile app is one of the slickest in the business and a joy to use.
- 10bet – 10bet is another modern sportsbook offering an excellent user experience and a great range of tennis betting markets.
- William Hill – Founded way back in 1934, William Hill is one of the biggest names out there and offers just about everything from sports betting to bingo.
- 888sport – The broader 888 group covers sports betting, casino, and poker, but the streamlined 888sport app is the place to go for tennis betting odds.
- Unibet – There’s great attention to detail at Unibet, with the dates, number of competitors, surface, and total prize money listed for each tennis tournament.
- Grosvenor Sport – Known for its land-based casinos, Grosvenor’s sports betting app is similarly impressive and packed full of tennis markets and betting offers.
Tennis Bonuses
Tennis is an extremely popular betting market, meaning that it comes with some pretty enticing bonuses. Let’s have a look at what you can expect to find on offer.
One of the most popular types of welcome bonuses available at tennis betting sites are matched deposit offers. Here the bookmaker will match your deposit with bonus credit to a certain percentage. An example could be a 100% bonus up to £100 when you deposit £20 or more. A 100% bonus effectively doubles your money, turning a £20 deposit into £40 of betting credit. Matched deposit offers usually have wagering requirements attached, so be sure to read over the T&Cs before you opt in.
Free bets are super easy to use and generally don’t come with any wagering requirements. A free bet is essentially a token that’s set to a particular value and allows you to bet on a match without risking any of your own cash. If the bet wins, you keep the profit. Free bets regularly feature in welcome offers and often alongside matched deposits in a bundle deal. For example, at 888sport you can pick up £30 in free bets when you sign up and place your first bet of £10 or more.
Existing Customer Promotions
Existing Customer Promotions
There are plenty of bonus offers available for existing members of tennis betting sites too. Betting offers are typically aimed at the most popular tennis matches, offering an extra incentive to have a flutter on a high-profile match.
Enhanced Odds
Odds boosts are readily available at the best tennis betting sites, particularly in the run-up to big tournaments like Wimbledon and the US Open. Tennis bookmakers will slash their original prices and offer customers more competitive odds with bigger potential payouts. Enhanced odds are a great way to get better value on a bet you already had in mind, or point you towards a new market for a bit of inspiration.
Free Bets Clubs
Another popular format for existing customer promotions is a free bet club. All you need to do to get involved is bet a certain amount throughout the week and you’ll pick up some free bets at the end of it. At Unibet, you can pick up a £15 free bet every week if you stake £200 or more by the deadline.
Specials and Promotions
Payment Methods
The best online betting sites will offer a range of payment options, meaning it’s easier than ever to place a bet on your favourite tennis markets. Let’s have a look at how you can expect to pay.
Debit Card Transactions
All online bookmakers will feature debit card transactions, meaning that they are by far and away the most popular payment method for online punters. They are also one of the safest and most secure methods around. But they are also slower than other options, taking up to five working days for withdrawals to be processed. What’s more, as the Government’s Review of Gaming Machines and Social Responsibility Measures, the UK Gambling Commission announced on 14th April 2020 that credit cards are banned from online gambling.
E-Wallets
e-Wallets are becoming increasingly popular with online bettors and it’s easy to see why. Services like PayPal, Neteller, and Skrill are all free to sign up to, totally secure, and much quicker than debit card transactions. Withdrawals to a digital wallet typically take 1–2 days depending on the betting site’s internal processing times. Plus, you won’t have to enter any card details — simply log in with your e-wallet username and password to set up a payment.
Trustly
If you’re still keen to use your bank account for deposits and withdrawals but prefer the added security of not having to share your card details, Trustly could be the best option for you. It facilitates lightning-quick payments from your bank to the tennis betting site — plus, it’s completely free to use and doesn’t require an account. All you have to do is log in to your bank via Trustly’s secure portal and it’ll take care of the rest.
Pay by mobile
Pay by mobile services such as Boku are another alternative to traditional banking options. All you need to set up a deposit is your phone number, so there’s excellent in-built security with this payment method. Once set up, payments will be taken from your bank alongside your monthly phone bill, or straight from your credit balance if you’re a pay-as-you-go customer. The main downside with pay by mobile is that it can’t be used to withdraw funds, so you’d still have to use an alternative payment method when it’s time to cash out.
Paysafecard
Paysafecard is a prepaid voucher that can be bought in shops around the UK. They come in denominations from £10 up to £100. Once you’ve purchased the card, all you need to do to load the funds into your betting account is enter the card’s unique 16-digit PIN. There are no accounts or bank details required, so it’s a super secure way to pay. However, like pay by mobile services, Paysafecard can’t be used for withdrawals at tennis betting sites.
AstroPay
AstroPay offers virtual prepaid cards that are super handy to buy online and just as secure to use as Paysafecard. What’s more, AstroPay doubles up as a digital wallet, meaning punters can also use it to withdraw funds from their betting account. AstroPay isn’t available at all tennis betting sites, but is quickly becoming more readily available thanks to high-profile sponsorship deals with the likes of Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The only downside is that some bookies won’t accept e-wallets as a payment method for their bonuses. It’s, therefore, really advisable to check the bookie’s T&Cs before you sign up.
How to Start Betting on Tennis
- Compare tennis betting sites
First things first, you’ll need to find the right tennis betting site for you. Whether you’re looking for tennis betting bonuses, a wide choice of betting markets, or the chance to bet on other sports like football and rugby, our list of online bookmaker recommendations has you covered. All you need to do is compare our featured bookies and read our expert reviews to pick out a favourite.
- Sign up
Found a tennis sportsbook that ticks all the boxes? Follow our link to go to the registration page and create your account. It only takes a few minutes and you’ll just need to enter some basic personal information to get started. Like the look of the bookies’ welcome bonus? Opt in so that you don’t miss out- you can count on us to highlight the key terms and conditions.
- Deposit
You’ll need to make a deposit before you can make real money bets on tennis. The good news is that the top tennis betting sites offer a choice of different payment methods, so it’s easy for everyone to make a deposit. Most sites offer debit card deposits, as well as e-wallets, like Neteller, Skrill and PayPal payments. Check that your preferred payment method is eligible for a betting sign up bonus, if you’ve opted in.
- Bet
As soon as your deposit has been credited to your betting account, you’re ready to bet on tennis. Simply pick your market, make your wager and wait for the results to come in. Good luck!
Ready to Play?
Whether you’re a casual fan who just wants to make outright bets on the grand slams, or a more committed tennis punter looking to bet on more niche markets, our list of the top tennis betting sites has something for everyone. All you need to do is compare odds, check out the bonuses, market depth and payment methods to pick out the right sportsbook for you.
FAQs
For sure. Mobile betting has improved enormously in the last few years, with the best sites providing native apps for punters to bet on their favourite tennis markets. Failing that, then all the sites we’ve recommended here will at least have a fully optimised mobile site for you to use.
Absolutely. The tennis season runs through most of the year, but when the biggest stars meet at major tournaments like Wimbledon and the US Open, you’ll often find some pretty attractive and exciting bonuses attached to those high profile matches.
Tennis tournaments are held largely throughout the year, but not every tournament uses the same surface. Some use grass courts, some use hardcourt and others use clay, all of which suit different playing styles. So it’s best that you do your research before on the surface type and which players prefer it before you place your bets.
Yes, you can create a tennis accumulator. Accas are a hugely popular way to bet because of the increased winnings on offer. But with a higher reward comes a high risk of losing so always make sure that you’re confident in your selection before investing any of your own money.
In order to operate legally in the UK, all betting sites must hold a license from the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC). This ensures that each transaction carried out on the site is safe and that all of its marketing is legal and fair. The details of the UKGC license should be found at the footer of the homepage of your chosen betting site.
While the big names like William Hill, Betfair, and Paddy Power are all sound options for tennis fans, every punter has their own personal preferences when it comes to site design and bonus offers. To find the site that’s right for you, browse our comparison list at the top of this page. Once you find one you like, click the ‘get bonus’ button to head to the registration page and get started.
Like any sport, it’s important to do your research before placing a tennis bet. It goes without saying that you should familiarise yourself with the fundamentals of the game if you’re not an avid watcher. Then, check out the latest world rankings and results from recent tournaments to get a flavour of who’s in form. As for the markets themselves, everyone has their own preferences — some bettors like to pick an outright tournament winner and then sit back and watch the action unfold, while others prefer to bet on live tennis and predict the score in each individual set. Whatever takes your fancy, be sure to play responsibly and only bet what you can afford to lose.
