Complete Guide to 2021 Wimbledon Betting

Wimbledon Betting Markets

As with all tennis tournaments, there are two main types of Wimbledon bets, outrights and match bets. The outright markets allow you to bet on the tournament as a whole while the match bets refer to specific match.es

Wimbledon Outright Betting Markets

Wimbledon Winner Betting

Betting on the Wimbledon winner is one of the most popular bets and the simplest to understand. There are actually two possible bets, men’s winner and women’s winner, and while they are simple, there is a great deal that should be considered.

One thing that should be said is that it is not a good idea to bet on the winner too early. You need to wait to see what kind of form the players have shown in the events leading up to Wimbledon and, just as importantly, to make sure that the favourites are not injured.

You also need to keep in mind that the tournament is played on grass. Grass is a surface that particularly suits an aggressive style of play as the ball bounces low and often goes in unexpected directions. That is why Wimbledon suits players who have both a strong service and the ability to play at the net. This gives them an advantage over players who prefer remaining at the baseline and playing more defensively.

Unlike the clay and hard court seasons, the grass court season starts much later, just after the French Open and lasts around a month. As such, players’ preparation time is significantly reduced. There are a number of grass tournaments that take place in the build up to Wimbledon, such as the Queen’s Club Championship, but many players will skip them and choose to focus on training instead. Because of this short preparation time, Wimbledon tends to be won by more experienced players who do not need as much tournament experience in the weeks leading up to the Grand Slam.

You also need to consider the Wimbledon draw and tournament format. Grand Slam tournaments are longer and the men’s matches contain more sets. As such, players need to be stronger and fitter, which once again favours players that are more experienced. However, even the favourites to win can find themselves facing truly tough opponents in the early rounds, which can drain their energy and affect their performance later in the competition. Therefore, when betting on a winner, you need to consider the type of opponents they may face on the way to the final.

Wimbledon Outright Prop Bets

There are a number of markets beyond betting on the winner of Wimbledon. For instance, you could bet on a specific player to reach a certain stage of the tournament or further, e.g. Rafael Nadal to reach the quarterfinals, semi-finals, and so on. The outright prop bets can be an interesting way to expand your betting strategy and ensure you have some action riding on every stage of the tournament, so they are well worth exploring.

Wimbledon Match Betting Markets

You will see more than forty betting markets offered on most of the matches at Wimbledon, and you will find a full explanation of how they all work in our Beginner’s Guide to Tennis Betting.

Without going into too much detail, you will find markets such as match winner, handicap betting on games and set, over/under markets on the number of games and sets, set spread betting, exact score markets, and more. There are normally a number of match specials as well, such as Player to Win at Least One Set or Any Set to Finish 6:0. Before placing a bet, it is important to look at all of the markets and to ensure that you understand them so that you can build the best possible strategy.

Furthermore, you also need to know how to carry out your research and while some of it is obvious, knowing which details to focus on can make the difference between placing a series of winning bets and losing everything. Here are some tips to help you.

Make the Most of Statistics

No matter what you are betting on, the worst thing to do is to trust entirely to instinct and ignore the vast amount of information that is available to you. Today, it is easier than ever before to carry out research before betting, so make the most of it.

To begin with, you can easily look up the head-to-head history of the two players. Not all of it will be relevant; you want to focus on their grass court meetings and ideally, their meetings within the last year or two. This will give you an idea about their recent form on the surface and how the players compare.

You can also look into the players’ performance statistics. As mentioned, at Wimbledon having a big serve is important so you will want to focus on statistics such as first serve percentage, second serve percentage, points won on first serve, points won on second serve and break points allowed/saved. These will give you an insight in the players’ consistency, which is even more important when playing on grass.

There are many more statistics available to you. It is possible to become bogged down in all the details, but focusing on players’ grass court performances in recent times is always going to be important for Wimbledon betting.

Look at the Players’ Fitness

As noted, the grass season is very short and Wimbledon comes just a few weeks after the French Open. As such, the players may be tired or may have picked up some small injuries along the way that will affect their performance.

That is why, as noted, you do not want to place your bets too early and even when betting on the day of the match, you need to look into the fitness levels of both players before placing your bets., Ideally you will have been watching their previous games, which may give you some insights into how they are performing. You should also be monitoring the press carefully for injury news.

Remember the Match Format

As mentioned, men’s Grand Slam matches are longer, with a best of five format rather than the usual best of three. This of course makes a huge difference and is far more demanding on the players. It requires an even higher level of fitness in order for players to remain consistent, and this is not something all can do. When researching players, see how they have coped with the Grand Slam format in the past, even if they have not played at Wimbledon before. Also, look at the tournament schedule and the players’ last match. If one of the players played all five sets in his previous game while his opponent won in straight sets, then this is sure to have an effect on the game.

Watch as Much Tennis as Possible

Statistics will go a long way to giving you an idea of a player’s strengths and weaknesses. However, they are not enough to give you a complete idea and nothing will substitute for actually watching them play. You should try to watch as many full matches as possible and at the very least, watch the highlights of matches. This way you may be able to spot things that the numbers don’t reveal. For example, did a player dominate the previous round because they were playing particularly well or because their opponent was having an off day?

Understand Grass Court Playing Styles

It can’t be stressed enough how important the grass surface is at Wimbledon. Grass is the fastest surface, which means that you will normally see short rallies and players who serve-and-volley traditionally doing better. However, there have been some changes in recent years that you need to be aware of. To begin with, the ball used now is heavier, which has slowed things down. Furthermore, the grass is now entirely 100% ryegrass where as it used to be a 70:30 mix of ryegrass and red fescue. Not only has this slowed things even more, but it has also increased the bounce of the ball.

The reason this suits serve-and-volley players is that it allows them to make the most of a powerful first serve and then approach the court, making it difficult for their opponent to challenge passing shots. This has proven to be very effective against defensive players who stand on the baseline. An excellent example is Roger Federer, who has won Wimbledon numerous times. He would often serve and volley when up against Rafael Nadal in order to bread down the tiring games and rallies that were physically demanding.