Tennis Betting Strategy

Tennis Betting Strategy: How Surfaces affect Players

There are several major sports where players compete on different types of surfaces. Baseball and football are two great examples of this because teams play on both turf and grass throughout the season. However, it's worth mentioning that these surface differences usually have little effect on the game because of how well artificial turf is designed these days.

Tennis, on the other hand, is a different story because its surface changes do have a significant impact on how matches play out. For example, some players' games are much better suited for grass than hard courts. When this is the case, an underdog will sometimes upset a big favorite when they're great on a specific surface. Seeing as how surfaces can have such a big impact on tennis betting, it's definitely worth taking a closer look at hard court, clay and grass courts.

Hard Court

Most professional tennis tournaments take place on hard courts. The reason why is because hard courts offer a true test of skills since the better player usually wins. There are rarely any bad bounces on a hard court and players can gain good footing.

As for what this means in regard to tennis betting, you should focus on players with a strong overall game. Look for somebody who makes solid serves, has good return skills, and possesses quick speed. In contrast to this is a big server who doesn't excel in any other facets; these players are usually at a disadvantage on the hard court.

One more aspect to consider here is how there are both indoor and outdoor hard courts. Indoor courts are generally faster and will benefit bigger servers a little more than outdoor courts. Of course, even outdoor courts can differ from each other too. The Australian Open and US Open are good examples of this because the Australian Open offers some of the world's slowest hard court play. This is great for speedy players like Andy Murray and Gael Monfils who are good at volleying.

Clay

Clay courts feature some of the most unpredictable and exciting results in tennis. These courts are slippery and prime for crazy bounces, meaning upsets are common on clay. So if you love the underdog, make sure to place some bets on the French Open and other clay surface tourneys.

Generally, the quick, fit athletes do the best on clay, as opposed to bigger, slower players who rely on power. The ball bounces much slower on these courts, so those who have good endurance and speed can track the ball down well.

Also take into account that it's hard to hit winners on clay because of the slow bounces. So those who excel at ball placement have a better chance at winning points since they can put the ball just out of an opponent's reach. You might also want to heavily focus on Spaniards and South Americans because many of these players grow up on clay courts.

Grass

Grass courts are much less common in the tennis world due to the heavy maintenance and costs associated with keeping them playable. Most grass tennis courts are located in Britain, like the world-famous ones at the All England Club (Wimbledon).

Contrary to what many people initially think, grass courts are pretty hard and the ball moves fast on them. When compared to clay and hard courts, grass doesn't feature very long volleys. Big servers and powerful hitters fare quite well when playing on grass because they can hit lots of winners. In contrast, weak-to-medium servers with a good return and volley game aren't quite as successful on this surface.

If you're going to bet on grass matches, always give a little more favor to big servers like Robin Soderling and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Also keep in mind that the APT and WTA grass court season is very short since it only runs for a few weeks in June, leading up to Wimbledon.

As you can see, surfaces definitely have a big impact on tennis betting. So if you're looking to get extra value out of your tennis wagers, make sure to study court surfaces.