James has worked for the jockey club and has 20 years sports betting experience he utilises his skills in our tipster competitions and writes sports betting content.
The year might be coming to an end but for tennis fans, there isn't much left of the post-season break as the Australian Open begins almost immediately after New Year's Eve.
I have already discussed the basics of tennis betting and offered advice on how to become a profitable tennis tipster, but in this holiday blog of mine, I will offer some advice on the stats and facts one should use in the upcoming tennis season.
The first Grand Slam is right around the corner and the majority of the players are already well ahead with their preparation and training.
After studying my blog, readers can view OLBG members live tennis tips (including mine) on the free sports betting tips app for iOS (iPhone and iPad) and Android.
HEAD TO HEADS, RANKINGS, SURFACES, FORM
Basic stats are pretty much common for most sports and people have to be well aware of them before even thinking of betting.
In most sports, there are two sides which face off and that in itself means there is a head to head record,
Head to head is a great first step towards understanding a certain match/game.
In tennis, the head to head is a bit more complex than in team sports and I will explain why.
While obviously, one player could have the edge over another according to the head to head, there is a second layer to that, which is the head to head on specific surfaces.
What comes to mind almost immediately is the Federer-Nadal rivalry, where at an early stage Federer was winning a majority of their clashes but was never able to win on clay.
If you are to rely on the head to head in tennis, I would strongly advise you to separate that piece of statistical information into three or four parts, dealing with head to head on separate surfaces.
That could help out in trying to find value selections where clay-court specialists, who are lower ranked are more likely to surprise favourites.
I deliberately mentioned clay as this is the most specific surface with a clear profile of players, who are better on it compared to hard courts.
Player Rankings
Player rankings are probably the most basic statistical data one would need to be accustomed to when betting on tennis.
Obviously, most of us hear about the top 10 or 20 players in the world on a daily basis.
Betting on tennis is much more though than just following the elite in Grand Slams.
You can get players ranked outside the first 100-200 and having researched the rankings well enough could be beneficial when you pick someone who is 50-60 places lower than somebody else.
Even the most popular coaches in the world have stressed that there is a sensible difference between the top 20 and the rest in terms of quality,
At the same time outside of the elite, even a player ranked number 300 could prove too good for a top 100 rival.
Understanding the rankings system is also of highest importance as it is a rolling type of table where points are accumulated on a 52-week basis, meaning a player who is ranked 35 in the world can drop outside of the top 100 in a matter of weeks.
Look out for that aspect of the rankings as they could signal the need for a player to push harder at a certain time of the year or at certain tournaments.
Individual Player Stats And Form
When betting on tennis look deeper into a players form.
A win streak on clay might not necessarily mean someone is going to be favourite in a hard court event that follows.
Still, the top players are generally versatile enough and train enough to be effective on any court, which is why I would combine the knowledge of the rankings with those individual stats.
After all, Andy Murray proved in 2016 that a player could indeed remain inform all through the year, no matter how much better he is considered on one surface compared to others.
Speaking of Andy, under individual stats I would also include the technical information like service percentages (much more important on hard courts and grass), aces, winners, unforced errors, etc.
Looking at wins, I would stress on how certain matches are being won - is it defensively by limiting mistakes, or aggressively by hitting more winners.
Place all that in the context of surfaces and you get a much clearer picture.
Specific Tennis Tournament Statistics
These are often overlooked by punters and sometimes by bookies too.
Tennis players have favourite events, which they do better at.
I spoke a lot about the different type of tournaments in my previous blog, dealing with strategy, which you can find here (How To Become A Profitable Tennis Tipster)
The understanding of how the calendar is structured the different events need to be combined with statistical knowledge.
Losing streaks could very well come to an end if a player is known to do well at a certain tournament or huge win streaks could be halted if a player has a smaller event on his/her calendar that might not be all that significant in the bigger picture of a long season.
Again, when checking tournament history, remember to note the need of certain players to defend points as you would never know where the cross-references could deliver a shocking revelation.