Tennis betting covers a swathe of options these days thanks to tech developments that mean sportsbooks like Paddy Power can track every shot and offer live odds on each point.
From match betting and player specials, to live odds on the next ace, bettors have never had more freedom when following professional tennis.
One of the most popular tennis bets is to focus on the final score in sets, and in particular straight sets betting. This guide will take you through what straight sets in tennis means, and why bettors use this market more than others.
What is straight sets in tennis?
Straight sets in tennis is when a player or doubles partnership wins a match without losing a set. In most instances this means a 2-0 win in sets, because the majority of tennis matches are best-of-three sets.
However, men’s Grand Slam singles matches – such as Wimbledon or the US Open – are extended to best-of-five sets. Therefore, a player needs to win 3-0 to “win in straight sets”.
How straight sets tennis betting works
Straight sets tennis betting is one of the most popular options for punters in the Paddy Power site. The idea is simply to back a player or doubles partnership to win in straight sets.
So, for the most part that’s winning 2-0 in sets. This changes during men’s singles matches at Grand Slams, where a straight-sets score would be 3-0.
Now, there are two ways you might see a straight sets bet outlined at Paddy Power. The first is to look at set betting, like this:
Here, you can bet on Grigor Dimitrov to win 2-0 or Sebastian Korda to win 2-0. Both are straight set bets.
You can also find straight set bets combined with others in Paddy’s special bets or Power Prices tabs. As you can see here, you can back Dimitrov to win in straight sets (2-0) and back the scores found in each set. This Power Price raises the odds, and therefore your profit potential.
So, you may not see a bet staying ‘Player A to win in straight sets’. However, our tennis betting pages will always display a correct score market, where you can back a player or doubles partnership to win 2-0 (or 3-0 at Slams).
Tennis straight sets bet tips
Let’s now look at some techniques to betting on tennis straight sets. It’s not as simple as backing any old player to win 3-0 in a Wimbledon quarter-final match. Indeed, there’s some thinking required before you dive into a straight sets bet.
Here are some tips to get started:
Look Beyond Match Odds – The match odds for a big favourite to beat an unseeded player in any tournament are usually slim. Your best price might only be around 1.20. That means you need to stake a lot of money just to turn a reasonable profit and the risk may not be worth it.
Well, straight set betting allows you to back the favourite you would have backed anyway, but squeeze more value from your stake. Yes, you carry more risk, but logic goes that your favourite should win in straight sets anyway.
Use straight sets accas – Straight sets accumulators are the quickest way to enhance your odds when betting on favourites. Instead of backing individuals at 1.10 or 1.20 to win, or even backing them to win in straight sets at perhaps 1.80, why not throw all your picks together?
A straight sets bet on the top three seeds of the Rome Masters, for example, could generate odds of 5.00 or more. Are all three top seeds going to drop a set against a qualifier? Probably not.
Take your time and bet live – Straight sets betting markets are live during tennis matches. You can bet on the correct score whenever you like, so there’s no need to rush into a bet before the match starts. Indeed, if you watch tennis live and bet in-play with Paddy Power then you can gauge whether a straight sets result is incoming, and place a smarter bet.
If you plan to bet on live tennis then we recommend joining Paddy Power today and seeing what streams we’ve got lined up this week!
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