Tennis tie-breaks in total games bets: one game, not ten

A 7-6 set is 13 games: seven for the winner and six for the loser. The tie-break is the thirteenth game. Both 22Bet and Melbet say a tie-break is regarded as a single game, and BetFury and bet365 count it as one game for totals and handicaps.

So a match that ends 7-6, 6-4 has 13 + 10 = 23 games. Over 22.5 wins and over 23.5 loses. On a whole-number line of 23, 22Bet settles an ordinary over/under at odds of 1 and returns the stake.

The small figure next to a 7-6, such as 7-4, is the points score inside the tie-break. It tells you how the last game went and adds nothing to the count.

A match tie-break counts as one game for match totals and handicaps at 22Bet, Melbet, BetFury and bet365. The example in 22Bet’s rules is a doubles match that finished 6-3, 3-6 with a 10-4 tie-break. It adds 6 + 3 + 3 + 6 + 1 and settles on 19 games.

One label changes the sum. At 22Bet and Melbet a match marked “champ. tie-break” or “super tie-break” has its totals settled with the tie-break score included. Their example turns the same 6-3, 3-6, 4-10 match into 32. Read the event name before you take a games line in doubles.

A match tie-break is a set for set betting. BetFury settles it as the third set and counts it as one completed set. At bet365 it is a set for set winner, set betting and total sets, and its other current-set and next-set markets are void.

That gives one match two answers. A 6-4, 3-6, 10-7 result is a 2-1 win in sets and 20 in games. A set-score bet of 2-1 wins, and so does over 2.5 sets.

The format can change before play. If the number of sets is altered, 22Bet lets bets on the match winner and on the first set stand and refunds other outcomes. Games markets at bet365 are void when the set count changes from the one quoted.

Bets on the tie-break itself pay on points, and they need a tie-break to be played. Tie-break score bets are refunded at 22Bet when there is no tie-break in the set or match. The same markets are void at bet365 in that case.

A yes or no bet on a tie-break in the match is settled early at 22Bet. If the match is not finished and a tie-break has been played, Yes wins. For this market bet365 treats a match tie-break as a set, so it does not count as a tie-break.

A set tie-break runs to seven points and a match tie-break to ten, each with a two-point margin for the winner. Tennis tie-breaks that stretch to 14-12 are still one game on a totals slip.

If the match stops early, the tennis retirement explainer covers which totals stand. Lines with a half follow the over/under guide, and games handicaps follow the handicap guide. To pick a bookmaker for the tour, start from the table of betting sites in Nigeria.