Welcome to the ultimate Wimbledon betting guide, where we've ranked the best Wimbledon betting sites and strategies to help you navigate the world's most prestigious tennis tournament.
Like the other Grand Slams, Wimbledon starts with 128 players in each singles main draw and offers multiple opportunities for tennis bettors to make money over a wide range of markets.
Days after Wimbledon has concluded, outright tournament odds will be available for the following year’s event. Finalists and past winners will be prominent. These odds will change slightly due to results at the Australian Open and French Open, but the greatest activity will be in the short grass-court season in the weeks leading up to Wimbledon. Wimbledon's results will slightly affect the odds of the year's US Open.
Queen’s Club in West London hosts the traditional men's warm-up event a fortnight before, although some players go elsewhere, such as Halle in Germany, the same week. Both are ATP 500 tournaments.
For the women, the two main warm-up events are both in England. Two weeks before Wimbledon, there is a WTA Premier event at Edgbaston, Birmingham, and another at Eastbourne a week later.
Big servers still have an advantage. But, with the grass-court season getting shorter and shorter, serve-and-volleyers are dying out. Baseliners can and do perform well at Wimbledon now.
It’s a similar story in the women’s game with Martina Navratilova serve-volleying her way to the last of her record nine Wimbledon triumphs in 1990. The Williams sisters have 12 titles between them (Serena seven, Venus five), with Petra Kvitova next best on two this millennium.
In the past, the grass was the quickest of all surfaces, with the ball keeping low compared to other surfaces. Serve-and-volleyers enjoyed the most success, and short rallies were the norm. But seven-time men’s champion Pete Sampras’ dominance at the end of the century led the powers to make changes to extend the length of rallies.
First, a heavier, bigger ball was brought in to slow down play. At Wimbledon, the old grass (70 percent ryegrass, 30 percent red fescue) mix was replaced by 100 percent ryegrass, which is harder but also makes the ball bounce slightly higher.
While the bounce is still lower than anywhere else, the court speed is nowhere near as fast as in the past. It is now similar to that of a medium-fast hard court, and there is evidence to suggest that the Australian Open has actually played quicker in recent years.
With 128 players in the main draw, there are a truckload of markets to get stuck into. Popular bets include which player will win their quarter of the draw, odds on a player reaching the final, and naming the two finalists. For big names, there may be odds with sports betting sites available on how far they will get.
It might be slower and bouncier these days, but grass is still the hardest surface to break serve on. Fast, skidding deliveries are almost impossible to return, so a big serve is still a potent weapon at Wimbledon. And if you don’t lose your serve, the worst you can do in a set is go to a tiebreak.
Tennis sportsbooks will have cottoned on to most of the big servers, but keep an eye out for those players who hold serve regularly, particularly during the grass-court season. You don’t have to go too far back to find the likes of Dustin Brown, Gilles Muller, and Sam Querrey springing surprises against the biggest names.
Betting on the likelihood of a tiebreak may be worthwhile, although, again, sportsbooks may offer prohibitive odds if there are two serving behemoths up against each other. Backing a big-serving underdog to win a set 7-6 can also be profitable.
While grass is now a surface for almost all types of players, some have never performed well on it. Even those who do, starting with 1966 Wimbledon champion Manuel Santana, have uttered variations of “Grass is just for cows.”
Stan Wawrinka has won all three other Grand Slams and is a fine all-round player but has never been beyond the quarter-finals at Wimbledon. Clay-court grinders are also still disadvantaged. Rafael Nadal could only make it and win the final at the height of his career, while he found success at the Australian and US Opens throughout his career.
A good strategy is to look out for players who have struggled on grass in the past. With the grass-court season now just three or four weeks long, some players may not even bother with a warm-up on the surface ahead of Wimbledon. Find them and oppose them.
Live betting adds an extra dimension to tennis. If a player dominates on serve, you can bet on them to keep that going in subsequent games and sets. Similarly, if a returner starts to read the serve well, you can bet accordingly.
The same goes for outright betting. If you like the look of a certain player, you can back them to go far in the tournament, with some live betting sites even offering outright odds while matches are in progress.
First held in 1877, Wimbledon is the oldest and most prestigious tennis event in the world. It is the third of the four Grand Slam tournaments and is currently the only one staged on grass, presenting a unique betting opportunity.
This year, Wimbledon will start on Monday, June 30, with the first round of matches in both the men's and women's competitions. The tournament will run until July 8. The annual event occurs at the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London.
Yes, if you live in a state that has legalized sports betting. Many sportsbooks will offer different bets, such as Outright Winners, Set Betting, Handicap Betting and Match Betting.