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How to Bet on the WTA Finals

The WTA Finals is an important women's professional tennis tournament played annually at the end of the season. The tournament dates back to 1972, and is considered to be the most important women's tennis tournament behind the four major's (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon & US Open).

Up until 2000, the tournament was exclusively held in the United States, however since then the tournament has been held in a number of different countries across the world, such as Qatar, Turkey and China. Martina Navratilova holds the record for the most WTA Finals, winning the singles tournament 8 times and the doubles tournament 13 times. The reigning WTA Finals champion is Spanish player Garbine Muguruza who defeated Annett Kontaveit in the final.

The WTA Finals tournament has a unique format. Since 2003, only the top 8 ranked singles players, and top 8 doubles players are invited to play in the tournament. These players and teams are then divided into two groups of 4, who then play each other in a round-robin format. The top two players and teams from the groups progress to the semi-finals and finals. This means that a player or team can lose a match and still end out winning the tournament.

There are many different ways for betting on the WTA Finals, and this article will explain the key differences between them. Some of the terms used for betting on the WTA Finals may seem daunting at first, but there is nothing to be afraid of. To help you understand the differences, we have provided some helpful examples below.

Moneyline

Moneyline is the simplest form of betting on the WTA Finals. A moneyline bet is simply putting a bet on either a player or team to win a match. In the case of betting on the WTA Finals, you could place a bet on a player, such as Annett Kontaveit to win her first match of the tournament.

Bet on Sets (Handicap)

In tennis matches a set in tennis is won by the player or team who is the first to reach 6 games, with at least a 2 game lead. If the scores are tied at 6 games each, a tiebreak is used to determine the winner of the set. Matches in the WTA Finals consist of a best of 3 sets, meaning that if a player or team wins the first 2 sets they win the match. If the scores are tied at one set each, the match goes to a deciding set.

Handicap betting is where sports betting gets interesting. In handicap betting, the bookmaker gives one player or team a head start (or handicap). For example, in the 2018 WTA Finals, Elina Svitolina beat Sloane Stephens 2 sets to 1. If the bookmaker gave you handicap bet of +1.5 sets for Sloane Stephens, even though she lost the match two sets to one, once the handicap of +1.5 sets for Sloane Stephens is taken into account, Sloane Stephens has 2.5 sets to Svitolina's 2 sets. This means that a handicap bet of +1.5 sets for Stephens would have won.

Overall Games (Handicap)

Handicap betting on overall games is very similar to handicap betting on sets explained above. However, there is one very important difference. For overall games (handicap) betting you will be betting on the number of games instead of sets. For this example, we will use the 2016 WTA Finals final match between Caroline Wozniacki and Venus Williams. In this match, Wozniacki won the first set 6 games to 4, and the second set 6 games to 4. This means that Wozniacki won 12 games in the match, and Williams won 8. If you placed a overall games (handicap) bet on Williams at +4.5 games, you bet would have won. This is because taking into account the handicap Williams would have won 12.5 games to Wozniacki's 12 games.

Winner of Each Set

Winner of each set is a relatively easy bet, which is similar to a moneyline bet. However, there is one important difference. Instead of betting on a player or team winning a match, you are betting on an individual set. This could be the first set, second set or a third set - if the match reaches that point.

Over/Under Bets (Games, Sets)

Over and under bets are a popular option for betting on the WTA Finals and you can place this bet on games or sets. In this example, if you think a match will be very one sided and the match will be over in two sets you can place a bet that there will be under 2.5 sets in the match. If you placed this bet on the 2019 and 2021 WTA Finals, your bet would have won, as the matches did not reach the third set. The 2018 WTA Finals was level at 1 set each after two sets, meaning that a third set was needed to decide the winner. In this instance, if you bet on the 2018 WTA Finals being under 2.5 sets your bet would have lost. Over and under bets for games work in the same way, but you are betting on the number of games instead of the number of sets.

Outrights

Outrights are another simple form of sports betting, and are similar to moneyline bets. For outright bets you are placing a bet on a player or team winning the WTA Finals tournament instead of an individual match. For example, if you placed an outright bet on Ashleigh Barty in the 2019 WTA Finals your bet would have won as Barty won the 2019 WTA Finals tournament.

Live Betting

Live betting is a fast and exciting way of placing sports bets, and betting on the WTA Finals is no exception. It can be a very good way of getting good prices for bets if a player is behind in a match and you think they will end out winning. For example, in the 2018 WTA Finals final Elina Svitolina lost the first set 3 games to 6. This meant that her opponent only needed to win the next set to win the match, whereas Svitolina needed to win the next 2 sets. Taking this into account, many bookmakers will offer you better odds, as it could be more likely that Svitolina will lose.

Tennis is popular and fast moving sport, and as you can see from the above, there are some fun and existing ways for betting on the WTA finals.