The past week has been incredibly busy if you are a tennis trader.

I have had one or two emails from new tennis traders wondering if these low profile tournaments are worth trading and my response is “Absolutely!”. In fact the best opportunities are usually had in the low profile tournaments and the liquidity is still more then sufficient on each match.

The last week saw tennis matches literally wall to wall with the European tournaments during the day and the US tournaments going into the evening and the liquidity was fine for trading on the majority. If you think tennis trading is only about the Grand Slams then think again!

Tipsarevic-Monaco

The final of the Mercedes cup in Stuttgart was a close run thing for those who thought it was wise to back Tipsarevic as low as 1.01 in the 2nd set.

The pre-match markets actually had both Tipsarevic and Monaco as close to evens with Tipsarevic just edging it as a favourite. The markets were clearly expecting a close match but with Tipsarevic a set up and leading 4-0 in the 2nd set some assumed it was “Game-Set-Match” at this point and were happy to back him at single digit odds.

A dangerous thing to be doing when you know that both these players are on an even level. Tennis is largely about momentum and once one player scores a break point they can often carry that momentum forwards and win the next few games too.

This was what happened as Monaco broke back and won 4 games in a row before taking the 2nd set 7-5 and all of a sudden the match was level.

You can see the market panic below as Tipsarevic traded as high as 3 in the 3rd set before finally winning the championship. No doubt after giving the 1.01 backers a few extra grey hairs in the process!