Australian Open and summer of tennis betting guide

With tennis matches on nearly every day of the year, it's one of the most popular sports for punters to bet on.

Around the clock at different professional levels, there is almost always a tennis game on, with a wide variety of markets to gamble on also.

Through the back end of December and January, Australia becomes the focus of the tennis world with the Australian Open and its warm-up events.

The Sporting News has tips on how to bet on tennis in Australia, including choice of bookmaker, different markets and amounts to gamble.

How to open an account and bet on the tennis

To bet on tennis in Australia - and literally any other sport - there is a simple process to follow.

You will need to:

• Make a deposit of funds into that account
• Fill out a bet slip and submit it

Signing up for an account with an Australian-regulated bookmaker

Starting your tennis betting journey requires selecting a bookmaker, with the TAB arguably the best for Australian punters (keep reading if you want to know why!)

You will need to:

• Select a bookmaker and sign up on their website or app.
• This will require registration that includes name, address, email, date of birth and other contact details
• You can generally deposit funds once the above information has been entered, but to withdraw funds you will need to proof of identity and location

Making a deposit

To add money to your account, it's as simple as hooking up a payment method via the deposit section, choosing the amount and confirming.

The funds will be available in your account immediately.

Filling out a bet slip

Once you have funds in your account, it's time to place a bet.

The process to do this is:

• Browse through the betting markets, in this case tennis, to find the bet you want to place
• Click on the bet and it will add it to your slip
• You can add other bets to slip to make it a multibet - these can be from tennis or other sports
• View the odds and potential payout of the bet
• If you're happy, confirm the bet

How to bet on tennis matches

When wanting to bet on tennis, it's wise to have some sort of plan instead of just betting on matches without thought.

First, you should be smart in your selection of bookmaker when it comes to tennis (more on that later!).

You need to make sure you do your research on a particular match or event you want to bet on.

With tennis, some of the crucial variables are recent form, the court surface, past head-to-head meetings and conditions.

This information can be sought on via a simple Google search on the particular match want to research.

Understanding these factors will allow you to see how the betting markets set and possibly find mispriced odds.

Who is the best bookmaker for tennis?

TAB is the best bookmaker for tennis because of a special condition they offer on the sport.

Not only do TAB offer competitive odds, but they also void the bet if the match isn't completed.

This means you will not lose your bet if your player cops an injury and is forced to retire.

TAB are one of the only Australian bookmakers to have this condition, with most others only voiding if the walkover occurs before the first set ends.

While this regulation might frustrate if your underdog gets a walkover because the favourite is injured, it works out in your favour more than not as your money will often be with the favourite in one way or another.

Which tennis markets should I bet on?

It's incredible how many different markets you can bet on for tennis.

From head-to-head to set betting to aces to breaks of serve - if it occurs in a tennis match, you can bet on it.

The following few markets are the ones you should focus on.

Head-to-head

This is the bread and butter of any tennis bettor and is simply who will win the match.

Obviously the favourites and best players will have shorter odds than the underdogs and lower-ranked players.

You must choose your bet wisely as a strong favourite winning will only net you a small profit with less risk.

While backing an underdog has more risk but a much higher reward in the final payout.

Be smart with your selection and look for spots where the odds could be in your favour.

Games handicap betting

There are many handicap markets across tennis, including on games, sets and even aces.

The handicap games market is an interesting one with a line set for the two combatants based on games won,

For example, Alex de Minaur is a $1.40 head-to-head favourite against countryman Alexei Popyrin in a five-set match.

While $1.40 odds are a strong favourite, there is some chance of an upset from Popyrin.

As such, the handicap games market will be set at roughly De Minaur -5 games, Popyrin +5 games.

This means if you were to back De Minaur and earn money, he would need to win the match and claim six or more games than Popyrin.

Conversely, if you put your money on Popyrin, he could lose the match against De Minaur and you can still win the bet, as long he doesn't lose six games or more.

A De Minaur victory 7-6 7-6 6-4 would mean Popyrin only lost four games and therefore you would still win the bet.

Aces totals

One of the best markets to bet on for both men's and women's matches is total aces.

Information on player's recent ace tallies across surfaces is available via a simple Google search.

While you can also see if a player concedes a lot of aces.

Often bookies will be slow to catch up with an improved server that possibly isn't a big-name player.

Or a player who serves better on a particular surface than others.

Often the lines for this market are quite low as well.