Betting on Double Faults in Tennis
In this article we will look over all aspects of betting on double faults in tennis. We shall be explaining what a double fault is, looking at strategies for placing bets on it, and the ways to best predict when double faults may happen.
What is a Double Fault?
When serving in Tennis a player has two opportunities to make a legal serve to their opponent to score a point. To be a legal serve the ball must land in the serving box opposite your side of the court having been played over or underhand from the baseline. If you are on the right side of the court you will aim for your opponent’s right-hand service box or the left if you are standing on the left side meaning you have to serve diagonally across the court. The ball must clear the net and bounce inside the receiver’s service box.
If the ball does not clear the net or bounces anywhere outside the return server box it counts as a fault, after the first fault a second serve is called if this is also a fault then a double fault is called and a point is awarded to the receiver. When serving you must also ensure both feet remain behind the service (base) line because failure to do this results in a foot fault which is also a foul serve no matter where the ball lands. The only other service rule is if the ball hits the net but continues its trajectory and bounces on the other side of the court this is called a let and is not counted as a fault.
What Influences Double Faults in a Match?
Considering how many times a professional tennis player will have gone through the motion of serving and practiced this action realistically double faults should not be that common in a game of tennis. However, there are always factors that can lead to an increased amount of times they happen in competitive match play tennis.
- Weather – A major factor is the weather because even though tennis is not played in the rain, on highly windy days, serving will become harder as you try to factor windy conditions into how much spin or power you will add to a serve. The wind also hampers the ball toss. Equally sunny conditions can make serving a lot harder to complete as the sun moves around the court; certain serving positions can mean the sun will get in your eyes and make serving more difficult.
- Pressure – Pressure plays a huge part in any sportsperson’s ability to perform on a given day, and the tennis world is no different. Within a match, this takes different forms, usually against key service points as the game and match progress. You can be serving in a game in which you need to win to save the set or a match in which extra pressure is on you on every serve, or within the game, there is more pressure on the point you need to win to either win the game or avoid your opponent winning that game. It follows that the chances of hitting your serve badly on these points is increased.
- Types of Players – Different players have different strengths and styles so some will be very serve-based and reliant on a big serve for many of their points. While these players will generally be better servers they can often be more prone to double faults as they will still go for a big 2nd serve even after a fault whereas players who are happier getting into a rally from a serve may compensate with a slower or sliced 2nd serve so they can get into a rally from the off and have more chance of winning a point.
- Form & Fitness – A full-time tennis career takes a huge strain on the body with a busy schedule of tournaments all over the world and nagging injuries can hamper a player’s ability to hit quality serves. Equally, players coming back from injury will struggle to play at pre injury levels. Form and confidence are also important with a bad run in form or lower confidence, again there is a greater chance of making unforced errors.
- Head to Head Rankings – For the top players, double faults will always be rarer than those lower ranked just due to ability levels and this is heightened as players face those ranked higher than them. If you are struggling in the match against a player who is ranked higher than you and is dominating your game, it becomes harder for a player to play at the level they expect, and more errors will slip in.
- Length of Match – Men’s tennis is usually five sets rather than the best of three in all women’s matches, which gives simply more serves that need to happen so more double faults can come from that. There is also tiredness playing its part over the longer games and as fatigue sets in so do errors.
How to Improve Your Odds
Bookies don’t always factor in a lot of the above factors into their double fault odds, for instance, if the match is played indoors or outdoors, you will probably see a set price on how many double faults in a game. Likewise, a player’s form can have dropped off whilst they still are maintaining a high ranking, so it’s worth looking at form over the past month and a player’s performance in their last couple of tournaments before making a bet, as well as checking their current injury status.
Betting on Double Faults
Most sites will offer a simple market on above or below a set amount of double faults in a match using your research you should have highlighted certain players and tournaments that will have higher or lower chances of double faults being served and be able to use this to bet on the matches you feel will come out correctly from your predictions. It’s always worth betting small stakes until you feel you have a good grasp of what you are doing and are confident in your predictions, as with any form of sports gambling.
Where to Bet on Tennis?
With so many betting sites to choose from, it’s important to find a tennis betting site that offers you both the best odds and the right markets for your bets. To this end, I’ve selected the one that currently stands out for Tennis betting MegaPari
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Tennis betting on Megapari includes over-under markets on most tennis matches and covers all the major and minor tournaments, allowing you to bet on tennis on virtually any day of the year if you wish! Also of course, covering the double fault market. Furthermore, it has in-depth statistics, including head-to-head results for players, to help you with your tennis wagers and an attractive welcome bonus that you can activate on the link below.
Conclusion
Double-fault betting is an interesting bet when betting on tennis outside of the main match result markets and it adds an extra dimension to gambling on tennis. It can involve some research to get an idea of which players and tournaments to focus on but once you get a feel for things, you should pick up a few wins. It’s always nice to have something you can count along as the match progresses and you feel yourself getting nearer to your bet winning when you are watching live. As always, make sure that the odds you bet at are the best available as that is going to give you the most value.