The world’s top tennis players will soon be gathering in London for one of the biggest tennis tournaments of the year. By learning how to bet on Wimbledon, you can enhance your viewing experience when you watch these games and support your favourites. Let’s take a look at how to get started and what you’ll need to know about the different types of Wimbledon betting.
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Let’s imagine you're ready for the men’s final. The strawberries and cream are nicely chilled and players are warming up. At the time of writing, Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz are favourites to win the trophy on July 16 this year, so we’ll explain different ways of betting based on them reaching a final battle together.
The first thing you need to do is have a LeoVegas account. You can easily achieve this by registering as a new user on our trusted online sportsbook here. This only takes a moment and we encourage you to take advantage of our sports betting welcome offer when getting started. Simply make a deposit to your new account and you’ll be 100% ready to sit back, check out the odds, and place a wager before enjoying the match.
Sun’s out, racquets out. The British summertime, what there is of it, usually brings sporting treats. The UEFA European Football Championship will happen in ten German cities during 2024, for example, but this interloper won’t get in the way of England’s staple summer show - Wimbledon. The Championships is the oldest major on the tennis calendar, dating back to 1877.
Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz took the honours in 2023, defeating Novak Djokovic over five sets to claim his first victory at SW19 (his second Grand Slam title overall).
Both Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic carry momentum into the renewal, starting as favourites for Wimbledon 2024, but, 2021 US Open winner Daniil Medvedev and even the 37-year-old Rafael Nadal can be found in earlier write-ups. This will be a banner year for Wimbledon. Is tennis ready to give up years of the "Big 4" for somebody new?
July 1st to July 14th, 2024
A total of 68 matches are scheduled for Wimbledon in 2024. We’ve included the full list below but, as a quick primer, the following categories are planned:
Wimbledon opens with the Gentlemen’s and Ladies’ Singles First Round on July 1 and July 2. A sparse schedule follows this until July 6, a Saturday, when the Gentlemen’s and Ladies’ Singles enter the Third Round.
Wimbledon is dominated by its eras - Bjorn Borg (1976 - 1980), Pete Sampras (1993 - 2000), Roger Federer (2003 - 2009) and, most recently, since 2014, Novak Djokovic. While these players might not have won every final they reached, their dominance is undeniable.
Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray have claimed two trophies at SW19 since Roger Federer won his first Wimbledon in 2003.
Outside of Federer, Djokovic, Murray, and Nadal, only three other people have found success at the event since 2000: Croatia's Goran Ivanišević (2001), the Aussie, Lleyton Hewitt (2002), and Carlos Alcaraz (2023), of Spain.
As hinted at earlier, a new phase in tennis is cresting the horizon, as the old guard starts looking towards retirement. Roger Federer (finally) retired in 2022.
Inevitably, the previous year’s winner and runner-up form part of the bookmakers’ plans this year.
Alcaraz has proven himself a repeat winner. He claimed the US Open in 2022, but Djokovic’s shadow looms large. The latter, now 36, is the only player to have won all nine ATP Masters events, a feat he’s achieved twice.
Alcaraz is one of tennis’ rising stars and has much to prove this year. An aggressive all-rounder, Alcarez is arguably less suited to grass than Djokovic, giving the Spaniard a certain resemblance to his compatriot, Nadal (although, he claims to emulate Federer).
Against the vastly more experienced Djokovic, it may come down to how much the Serb still wants to be on the circuit. Plenty of pundits expect this year’s Wimbledon to be the last for Djokovic, as well as Nadal and Murray. A 25th major would be a crowning achievement for the Serb. Overall, the Gentlemen’s Singles Final should be easy to call.
Of the two top picks for the Ladies’ Singles Final, the younger of this pairing, 22-year-old Swiatek, is the more successful. The Pole has four Grand Slams, namely, the French Open (3) and the US Open, while Aryna Sabalenka has won the last two Australian Open events.
Unfortunately, neither has much to show for their time on the grass at Wimbledon. In 2023, Swiatek reached the quarter-final (her strongest result yet), losing over three sets to Elina Svitolina, while eventual runner-up Ons Jabeur dispatched Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals.
Swiatek's head-to-head performance against Sabalenka is ominous for the latter. With ten matches played, the Pole has won 7 of them. Sabalenka should be better than she is. An aggressive baseline player, the Belorussian hasn’t always had the strongest mental game, leading to errors.
Marketa Vondrousova eventually won Wimbledon 2023 but neither she nor Ons Jabeur are expected to repeat their success this year. In fact, they’re outsiders.
Like the men's, the women's game has historically been dominated by a handful of players - or, to be more specific - the Williams sisters, Serena and Venus. However, once their influence faded (around 2017), the Ladies’ Singles became a much more open field.
Wimbledon has crowned a fresh winner every year since.
Forget all the names above. For the women, success is a young person's game. Let’s take a look at some of the players still rising through the ranks (both male and female).
Jannik Sinner (22) is expected to hit the coveted no.1 spot soon and is the ambitious punter's choice to win the Gentlemen’s Singles Final this year. The big-serving Italian claimed his debut Grand Slam earlier in 2024, at the Australian Open, hinting at a maturing play-style. Grass isn't his strongest suit, however.
A youngster (20), Coco Gauff already has a Grand Slam to her name - the 2023 US Open. She beat Sabalenka on that occasion, further strengthening her claim to the Wimbledon title over the current favourites. In 2019, as the youngest woman ever to qualify for SW19, Gauff beat Venus Williams on the way to a fourth-round loss to Simona Halep.
Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina (24) might be considered an odd choice for a “one to watch” list, as she’s a defending champion. Her sole Grand Slam success (at Wimbledon 2022) seems more like an accident than a sign of things to come. She's only progressed beyond the Fourth Round four times in 21 attempts. Rybakina has been plagued by injury recently, too.
A true newcomer, Qinwen Zheng (21) has continually improved since her 2022 Grand Slam debut. Most notably, the Chinese player reached the 2024 Australian Open Final won by Sablenka, as well as the quarter-finals of the US Open in 2023. She probably won't win this year, but Zheng is a name worth remembering.
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There are different ways of betting on tennis matches and that means you can choose the exact wager you think is best. You’ll need to be aware of these key tennis betting side markets when getting started to make an informed choice.
Match betting is quite simply, the simplest way to bet on Wimbledon. In the case of Djokovic vs Alcaraz in a Wimbledon final, you are betting on who will win the overall match. It doesn’t matter how many games or sets they win; you win if you predict game winner correctly regardless of the final score. This contrasts with tournament betting, which is where you wager on the player you think will win the whole event before it gets to the final. You can place your bets on your chosen player before the first ball is served at Wimbledon 2023 on July 3.
Maybe you are confident in predicting who wins and how many sets they will win. You’ll see all of the different possible outcomes here, from Djokovic winning every set to Alcaraz doing the same, and everything else in between these extremes. Other options include betting on how many sets will be needed in total and whether a certain set goes to a tiebreak.
This is where you get the chance to be really specific and bet as the action is taking place. You’ll find wagers such as who will win the current game or even whether an ace will be served in a certain game during a particular set.
Also known as a tennis spread bet, this is where a handicap is put in place to give you an alternative type of wager. Let’s say that Djokovic is the favourite for the final. You will probably see him listed with a handicap of -4.5. This means that he needs to not only win the game, but will also need to win 5 more games than Alcaraz for your bet to win. On the other hand, his rival from Spain might be listed at +4.5. In this situation, you win as long as Alcaraz doesn’t lose by more than 5 games.
As we saw above, spread betting is also known as handicap sports betting.. This type of tennis wager is all about taking away the perceived advantage that the favourite has. You can then bet on a more even contest where the underdog has a better chance of winning your bet even if they don’t win the overall match.
The over/under bets add some delightful extra tension when you are watching the game, as your goal is to predict the number of sets each match will last for. It doesn’t matter who wins, as you are only betting on whether it will be a fast win made in straight sets or a marathon match that lasts hours and runs over more sets.
We can’t look at how to bet on Wimbledon without considering outright betting. This is also called the moneyline bet and covers a simple wager where you bet on who will win the match or tournament. This is all that matters. If you bet on Alcaraz or Djokovic, it doesn’t matter if they win in straight sets or if it goes all the way to a nail-biting tiebreaker.
Betting on tennis matches at Wimbledon is a simple process, but deciding who you think will win is more complex. If you watch all the matches take place at the All-England Club in London, you should understand who is playing well and looking like they could win the trophy. With the best tennis players in the world all taking part, there are plenty of factors to take into account before making your final decision.
A player who isn’t heavily backed at the start might find their best form at the perfect moment. Some of the biggest shocks in Wimbledon history have included two unseeded men’s tournament winners in Boris Becker (1995) and Goran Ivanišević (2001). No unseeded woman has even won, with Venus Williams pulling off the biggest shock when she won as the 23rd seed in 2007.
Yet, many people watching that tournament realized very early on that the eventual winners were playing fantastically well and could defy the odds. You might also look further back at other tournaments played in the run-up to Wimbledon and at how a player tends to handle the pressure of Grand Slam occasions.
Some tennis stars seem to perform better against certain rivals, while others have built up tremendous rivalries over the years where you can never be sure who will win the next time they meet. If we look at the favourites for the women’s title: Iga Swiatek, Elena Rybakina, and Aryna Sabalenka are high on the list.
Looking at head-to-head results between Swiatek and Rybakina, the former has won once and lost twice. The only time Swiatek won against her Kazakhstani rival was the first time they met back in 2021. Meanwhile, defending Wimbledon champion Rybakina has won two head-to-head matches this year so far. Who would you bet on if these two players came face to face in the 2023 final?
Although all the players who reach Wimbledon are strong all-rounders, it’s clear that some players prefer playing on certain surfaces. Of course, games at the All-England Club are played on a grass surface and that isn’t ideal for everyone.
Novak Djokovic is particularly powerful on slow, hard courts while Rafael Nadal has been dominant on clay courts for much of his career, and Carlos Alcaraz seems to have a slight preference for clay. Last year’s losing finalist in the women’s tournament, Ons Jabeur, admitted that she loved playing on grass courts and that it suits her skills, so the player’s preference is another factor to take into account.
We can tell a lot about Wimbledon’s weather by history. In 1996, a rain delay during which Sir Cliff Richard sang ‘Singin' in the Rain’ on Centre Court is commonly ranked as one of the tournament’s most iconic moments. The weather can change from one moment to the next and long rain delays can cause players to lose focus.
A player’s technique and mental strength are both important in these situations. For example, players who hit a lot of flat shots may benefit from some light rain, while windy conditions can help an underdog against a technically superior player. How to bet on Wimbledon when it rains is a matter of understanding each player’s strengths and weaknesses.
Like all professional athletes, tennis players battle through a long, gruelling season and often have to deal with nagging injuries. Since Wimbledon is one of the most important events of the season, top players will aim to be in their best possible physical condition for it, but this isn’t always going to happen.
For the 2023 event, there are doubts over whether Nadal will make it, while injury has also raised concerns over whether Emma Raducanu will make an appearance. A player who is injured at the start of the tournament may improve as the games go by or they might get gradually worse due to the intense schedule.
Regarded as one of four grand slam tournaments and the most historic and important events in the sporting calendar, Wimbledon has hosted this prestigious tournament since 1877. It is the longest-running tennis tournament still held today and it’s the only Grand Slam event played on grass. The upcoming 2024 tournament will be the 137th time it has taken place.
Another unique aspect of Wimbledon is their strict dress code for players includes ‘almost entirely white clothing’, although this rule has relaxed slightly in 2023. The British Royal Family has close links to Wimbledon, with royal patronage and family members often visiting the stadium to watch the action. Viewers may notice the sponsorship is far more understated here than in other major sporting events with some official equipment suppliers among the few brand names you will notice.
In 2022, we saw Novak Djokovic win the men’s title for a fourth consecutive time. The last man other than the Serbian to hold aloft the trophy was Roger Federer, who won it in 2017. Andy Murray won the trophy in 2016, which is the only time that Djokovic has been beaten in a Wimbledon final. Elena Rybakina won the Wimbledon ladies’ title in 2022 after victory for Ashleigh Barty in 2021 and Simona Halep in 2019. The year before that it was Angelique Kerber who won the famous prize.
Log into LeoVegas and you can place bets live as you follow the action on the screen. This means you can see how the game is going and decide whether to bet on the next point or set, or the overall match.
There’s a wide choice of Wimbledon bets to choose from including overall tournament winner, individual match winner, handicap bets, under/overs, sets, and even prop bets for specific points in a match.
Yes, you can look at the latest odds for individual matches as they are being played and decide whether to bet on them. This is a fast-moving market where you can follow the action and bet on a variety of markets as it takes place live.
104 male and 104 female players automatically enter as the top-ranked members of the pro circuit. The rest of the field of 128 in each category is made up of wild cards and players who make it through three rounds of qualifying the week before Wimbledon starts.
The draw is made on the Friday before the first round begins. At this stage, the 32 top seeds in the men’s and women’s events are kept apart until at least the third round. As for the top two seeds, they can’t possibly meet until the final.
This is one of four Grand Slam events, with the others being the US Open, Australian Open, and French Open.
With the huge demand for tickets, empty seats are often due to people with corporate tickets choosing which matches to watch. Some fans may also buy tickets in advance but then be unable to attend total games or decide not to watch all the games.
It depends on your knowledge of the sport and how much research you want to carry out. Choosing a favourite as the overall winner is a popular wager for someone who doesn’t want to commit too much time prize money to this, while there are many other options you’ll find online.
Novak Djokovic is the favourite to win the men’s title for a fifth successive time. In the women’s event, Iga Swiatek, Elena Rybakina, and Aryna Sabalenka are all at the top of the list with similar odds.
There’s a fairly long list of top tennis players to never have won Wimbledon. This includes Ivan Lendl, Pat Rafter, Mark Philippoussis, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, and many others.
Boris Becker was 17 years and 228 days old when he won the title in 1985 and is still the youngest male winner. Martina Hingis was even younger, at 15 years and 282 days, when she won the doubles title in 1996. We need to go back to 1887 to find the youngest ladies' singles champion, with Lottie Dodd winning it at 15 years old.
Madeline O’Neill played in the 1922 tournament at the age of 54 and won two matches, a record that has yet to be beaten.
The 2024 Wimbledon Championships will take place from July 1st to July 14th, 2024.
A new rule in all Grand Slam events means that the tie-breaker in the final set has changed. Now, if the score gets to six games all at this stage, the first player to win ten points and have a clear advantage of at least two points will be declared the winner.
This is the traditional playing surface from the early days of the sport and Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam event to continue to use a grass court.
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