Wonderful World of Tennis / Tareq Quiroz / 31 August 2007 /

Tennis betting expert TQ guides you through the golden rules of in-play tennis betting

If you are looking for a genuine all-year-round sport, then Tennis should certainly be near the top of your list. For forty-five weeks of the year the world's finest players battle it out on a variety of surfaces from all corners of the globe.

Getting Started
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f you are new to in-play betting on Tennis, it's easy to get a little daunted by the sheer amount of games that are on. The key to all bets is to do the necessary research - the last thing you want is to be aced by a more informed Betfairian. Unlike a lot of sports, all the information you need is both easily accessible and available on just a few websites. Betfair's very own tennis guide at https://form.tennis.betfair.com/tennis is the place to start, as it offers you a smooth and easy-to-follow guide to each tournament, recent form for each player which can be split down into each surface, plus the vital head-to-head stats. Although this information is extremely thorough, it will also pay to use the official tour sites at www.atptennis.com for men and www.wtatour.com for information about the women's tour.

In-Play Betting
With the hard court season firmly upon us we have some good recent form to go on as well as previous seasons form.

Know your feed: Always be aware of the delay of the feed you are using to bet in-play. If you are unsure, initially take no chances and just bet during the changeovers. When you feel more comfortable, you can advance to betting between points. I don't advise trying to get an edge by betting during points, as any player seemingly in control of a point can lose it very quickly, with one poor shot or one great shot from their opponent.

Whether you are playing the Match markets or the innovative game-by-game markets, it's important to be prepared for all possible eventualities and react accordingly. As with a lot of in-play betting, there's a tendency for over-reaction at the winning of even one point. This is especially evident when a player wins with a great shot - get this into perspective - one point is just one point. If you see an over-reaction then lay the bet and back it back when the market has settled. You have to be quick, but once you have an eye for it, this method can be very profitable.

Know you surface: Tennis is a unique game in so much as that the court size never changes, and neither does the ball or racquet, yet the surface played on hugely affects which player wins, in a similar way to horses liking a certain going. The hard court is the most played upon surface and offers up a great form line, so don't be afraid to base your ideas of how someone will play entirely on that. The best players rise to the top on this surface, it's probably the fairest test of a player's all round game, in contrast to the servers paradise of grass and the grinders haven that is clay. Trust the best player in the match to come out on top, but as a word of caution, please check out the Ranking History first. It's an excellent guide to how a player has got to the current rankings spot and is revised weekly.

Scoreboards are a great way of following a game and certainly in-play betting is possible off these sources but you do lose the valuable asset of being able to read a player's body language. The scoreline doesn't always tell the whole story and it is key to be able to assess a player's mental and physical state if you are going to make an informed bet in-play. There are so many aspects to consider but I suggest that if you are looking for negative body language then don't get too carried away by racquet throwing and general temper tantrums as this is often a way some players get themselves fired up and should not be misinterpreted as giving up. Always look out for sulkers, if you see a player muttering to themselves, shrugging their shoulders, shaking their head or acting in a generally lethargic manner then they need to be laid. Tennis is an explosive sport where your adrenalin needs to be pumping at all times to achieve optimum performance.

With all the relevant information now at hand you are ready to play the various in-play markets on offer. Always remember how wild the fluctuations can be and try and keep on the right side of them. If you can develop the art of reading a game then you never need to pick the winner of the match as you can trade your way to a tidy profit simply from your knowledge of each point affects the prices.

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