Making investments in tennis

The purpose of the website is to provide expert advice on professional tennis. It is not the intention to encourage gambling or betting with significant sums  of money that the individual cannot afford to lose. This site would advise you to only ever invest small amounts of money that you can afford to make. You should only ever invest responsibly. Any  investment you make is your responsibility. In my opinion  It is no longer possible to invest significant sums of money with regulated bookmakers today. They are not likely to accept bets from winning customers who are dedicated to one sport only.  After a series of small wins it is possible you will be refused further investments. Just like any affordable luxury, please only invest small amounts that provide you with a smile whether you win or  have a near miss rather than any sleepless nights or further worry. 

The majority of the advice will be centred on the WTA tour because this aspect  at present is so open, with so many different winners emerging from week to week. The possibility of anyone ranked in the top 100 beating anyone else higher ranked has never been more likely than at many of the current tour events. 

As headlined on the home page DTM has highlighted different winners of major events in just the last 2 or 3 seasons who were very unexpected winners. The same cannot be said of the ATP tour where the big 3 have dominated  events for two decades. Even now as Djokovic comes towards the end of his dominance at the top of the game, Sinner, Alcaraz and possibly one or two others look set to take on a similar mantle to that of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic. The outcome is the tournament winner is not difficult to predict and therefore rarely offers any value.  As a result DTM will only provide information on the ATP tour sparingly outside of the 4 majors. 

Finally always do your research and take advantage of the latest information available. DTM can recommend an excellent form guide site -  Tennis Explorer. 

Value is most important in making any investment. If you can always invest in a way that maximises your chances of a profit then you are already half way there. DTM factors in likelihood against the profit margin for any investment. If you think someone is more than 50% likely to win a match and is offered at better than 2-1 then this presents good value. In 2021 Krejcikova was 150-1 to win the French Open having had a very good clay court season leading into Roland Garros. She had just won in Strasbourg and only narrowly lost to Swiatek 7-5 in the third set in Rome. 150-1 was great value. Once the draw is made you have to consider the likely match ups on route to the final. In that year DTM felt strongly that Krejcikova was in the right section off the draw to comfortably make the second week. Her odds should have been nearer 25-1 not 150-1. That is great value. Tennis investments are also rewarded with half the odds returned for any player making the final if you make an each way investment. This can present value for some players who are in form and are likely to beat most of the field. In fact if the only serious danger resides in the opposite side of the draw then the value of an each way tournament investment is enhanced even more. Danielle Collins recently won in Miami at 80-1, which was less of a surprise to DTM than most because of her seriously good performance in the Australian Open against Swiatek in round 2. This match went the distance and Collins played brilliantly and possibly only lost because of slight fatigue and Swiatek playing unbelievably in the decisive moments. Although she lost to Swiatek again in Indian Wells, that surface was much slower and against Collins. For Miami you had to consider her previous form from Australia added to the fact she had played a lot more matches on hard courts leading into the crucial week, including another close loss to Rybakina in 3 sets. Her price at 80-1 was far too generous and did not reflect those two very close losses against two of the top 4 players in the world.  Sure enough in Miami she got a good draw and in reality beat an unhealthy Rybakina in the final, but her price for the event should have been nearer 20-1. The each way value to reach the final at 40-1 in hindsight was even better because she didn't have to face any player inside the top 10 to even reach the final. In Charleston a week later her odds were 12-1 which meant 6-1 to make the final. This time she had to beat Jabeur and Sakkari? Again on current form it was exceptional value. 

Also remember that prices for the top players are invariably similar to that of the top players in the men's game? This doesn't really make sense given the likelihood and evidence of different winners that resides in the women's game, in a way that we have already highlighted. Often I would expect the higher ranked players to still be bigger odds than they often are. Iga Swiatek has no form at Wimbledon and yet is often still priced up as one of the favourites. Currently 7-2 second favourite for Wimbledon? This is no value and an example of a crazy investment!  Zheng made the final in the first major of the season in Australia and has been the only player to push Swiatek close in the French Open in 2022 by taking the first set. Yet this week she is 40-1 with arguably two out of form higher seeds in her half. Irrespective of whether Swiatek wins the event, if Zheng made the final you would 

return 20-1 on your investment and therefore a healthy profit if you wanted to make that each way investment. I am highlighting examples of contrasts. Value exists some weeks but on other occasions it definitely doesn't. 

The other factor to appreciate is that often tournament odds are more generous than individual head to head matches that are accumulated over the duration of the tournament. This is hypothetical and used to emphasise the point because in reality you never know who each match is between until the previous rounds are completed. However if the draw opens up or if the draw is favourable in the first place the tournament odds are likely to be preferable than an individual winning four/five consecutive matches at 8-11 or even close to 1-1. In fact once the  player starts to go through the draw you can guarantee their individual price to win each subsequent match reduces as a result. This further explains why tournament odds at the outset often offer greater value.