Tennis
TENNIS
A swing of a racket generates entertainment for around one billion people around the world, but there’s much more to tennis than that. Professional tennis players devote their lives to calibrating their swings, working on their positioning and learning to anticipate where their opponent will send the ball.
Tennis might seem very simple, but it’s actually a fascinating sport that has been with us for more than 800 years. Tennis online betting, on the other hand, has been around for somewhat less than that, which is all the more reason to brush up on some tennis betting markets through LV BET.
TENNIS HISTORY
The origins of tennis can be traced back to the 12th century, during which a French handball game called ‘jeu de paume’ — which translates to ‘game of the palm’ — used to be played. It was an indoor-based racket-and-ball game that is still played to this day. Its name in Britain is ‘real tennis’, the United States calls it ‘court tennis’, whereas Australians call it ‘royal tennis’.
The game of tennis has been played for a very long time, but it was only placed into the limelight as recently as the late 1960s, when several major championships were held. Numerous tournaments were then established over the decades leading to the second millennium, further bolstering tennis’ popularity.
Interestingly enough, tennis wear and equipment experienced a form of a renaissance of their own. The colour of tennis wear used to be restricted to white, as was the colour of tennis balls. Racket frames used to have a single standard size and shape, and they were mostly made of wood.
It took quite a long time to incorporate different colours into tennis wear, but this shift ended up being the forerunner of an entirely new style of clothing. Tennis balls gradually began being manufactured in yellow, whereas racket frames were completely revolutionised. Their sizes, shapes and materials were given somewhat of an overhaul to become the rackets we know today.
HOW TO PLAY TENNIS
In order to play tennis, you’ll need a racket, a tennis ball and a court with a regulation net. The game is played between two or four players divided into two teams, with either one or two on each half of the court, respectively.
The game starts with one player serving the ball, which simply means beginning the play by hitting the ball with their racket. If the ball crosses over to the other player’s half, the other player must do the same without letting the ball bounce in their half more than once. Should the ball fail to make it over the net and onto the other player’s half — a situation called a ‘let’ — the server gets to try the serve again. The server has just two chances to get this right, and if the third serve fails, points are awarded to their opponent.
Speaking of which, tennis has a unique scoring system, but it’s relatively easy to understand. Four points are required to win what is called a ‘game’, which refers to a single game round. The four points equate to 15, 30 and 40 on the scoreboard. If both players reach 40, a ‘deuce’ is called. The winner of the next point will be awarded the ‘advantage’, and if they win the subsequent point, the set will be theirs. However, the advantage can be lost if the opponent wins a point, thus reverting the game back to a deuce.
Here’s an easy breakdown of what it takes to win a tennis match: four points win a game, six games win a set, and two or three sets win a match. Tennis matches can be played in best-of-three or best-of-five set formats, but there isn’t a limit to this when playing for fun.
Now, how do tennis players score points? There are five ways to win points in tennis:
- Winners: hitting the ball over to the opponent’s half of the court where they cannot reach.
- Double bounces: when the ball bounces twice in the opponent’s half of the court.
- Opponent’s error at the net: when the opponent stands close to the net in an attempt to score a winner, they are liable to conceding winners themselves, as well as committing errors such as striking the ball into the net or outside the boundaries.
- Opponent’s error outside court boundaries: the lines of the court outline where the ball may and may not bounce. If the opponent strikes the ball outside of court lines, a point is granted.
- Double faults: when the opponent fails to serve twice in a row.
TENNIS COMPETITIONS AND MAJOR EVENTS
The many tennis competitions held worldwide are a testament to the sport’s flourishing popularity. If you want to try your hand at tennis online betting, it would be a good idea to know which of these tournaments attract the largest crowds. The best sports betting sites always tend to offer markets on the tournaments below, so grab your notebook!
GRAND SLAM
The Grand Slam tournaments are the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open, and they are governed by the International Tennis Federation (ITF). They are played in that order throughout the year, but they aren’t equally popular.
WIMBLEDON
Wimbledon is known to be the most prestigious tennis tournament in the world since it never fails to draw the biggest crowds of tennis enthusiasts. It was first held in 1877 in England, and it is now held annually in late June and early July. Wimbledon hosts over 200 singles players and more than 100 doubles teams, with millions in prize money at stake.
US OPEN
The US Open is the final Grand Slam tournament of the year, which is played in late August and early September. It was first held in 1881 in Newport, Rhode Island, and became one of the most influential tournaments in the late 20th century. In fact, the US Open was the first Grand Slam tournament to award men and women equal prize money, and it was also the first tournament to be played with floodlights. Moreover, it brought about certain changes to tennis rules that were later adopted by other Grand Slam tournaments.
SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES
The Summer Games can be regarded as a celebration of sports as a whole, but tennis fans will be eyeing their favourite players’ odds of winning a gold medal. The tournament lasts for just nine days, but its jam-packed action guarantees a solid level of entertainment and competition. Historically, tennis was dropped from the Summer Games in 1924, only to return in the 1988 edition of the tournament.
ATP FINALS
The ATP Finals are the championships that bring the ATP Tour to a close. It features eight singles players and doubles teams that look to emulate Roger Federer, Peter Fleming and John McEnroe’s successes in the tournament. The tournament is held worldwide, with London being its favourite destination as of late.
TENNIS BETTING OPTIONS
Before trying an online bet on tennis, it would be a good idea to watch a few games to really understand how the game is played and what the most important aspects of it are. Better yet, grab a friend, a racket and a ball and play a few sets. If no tennis knowledge is garnered, at least you would have gotten some exercise under your belt!
Without further ado, here are some of the most popular tennis online betting markets that you’ll find out there.
TOURNAMENT WINNER
As you can probably tell, this bet looks to predict which player will win the tournament or event. Doing some research about the players’ form and past successes is advised.
MATCH WINNER
This is one of the easiest tennis bets you could place, since all you have to do is pick between the two — or four in the case of doubles games — players who you think will win the match.
SET BETTING
Set betting in tennis opens up numerous betting opportunities. You could place bets on the correct score of the match, the correct number of sets played, the correct score of each set and the correct number of games played.
Such bets depend heavily on the set format being played, such as the best-of-three or best-of-five sets. Once again, doing your homework to find out the details of each match is very recommended.
HANDICAP BET
Many types of sports markets offer this bet, so it’s not a bad idea to nail this one down. In tennis, the concept of a handicap bet is to give a player a non-existent advantage or disadvantage to level the playing field and make things interesting.
For instance, a game between Roger Federer and Pablo Cuevas might see a bookie offer a -3 games handicap to Federer. For this bet to be successful, Federer must win three games more than Cuevas.
ONLINE TENNIS BETTING — BET ON TENNIS AT LV BET!
Nowadays, online sports betting is offered practically everywhere, and that’s not necessarily a good thing. Trumping the rest, however, is LV BET. If you’re new to online betting, you can rest assured that we go the extra mile to make your experience a comfortable one.
Feel free to have a swing at any of our wide range of betting options on all the most popular sports around the world. You’ll get to enjoy top tennis odds and an equally competitive offer on sports like football, basketball, MMA, badminton and dozens of other sports. If you’re short on sports betting experience, you can refer to our LV BET Sports Blog to pick up some advice, news and announcements about all things betting.
