Tip Sheet Special Edition: Daily Fantasy Sports

There’s traditional betting—which we’ve covered extensively here and here—and there’s also daily fantasy sports. Don’t think of DFS, as it’s often referred to, as an inferior way to wager, though. Rather, it’s a fun way to get some skin in the game—and potentially a big payday as well.

Since tennis is not a stat-based, boxscore-centric sport like basketball, baseball or football, understanding what makes for a successful daily fantasy tennis lineup can be confusing. That’s where we come in.

WATCH: An example of picking a Daily Fantasy Tennis lineup, from the 2019 US Open.

How Daily Fantasy Tennis Works

Both DraftKings and FanDuel host three main types of DFS competitions in tennis: Head to Head, 50/50, and Tournament Contest. In Head to Head, you simply need to score more fantasy points than your opponent to win. In 50/50, you need to finish in the top 50 percent of contest entrants to win. In either case, a win typically means that you’ll earn a profit of exactly what you wagered to play: a $50 bet means $50 in profit.

Tournament Contests are where the big bucks are, though, and that’s what we’ll focus on here. (The figures below are from DraftKings, but FanDuel’s format is almost identical.)

• Picking your lineup: When you select your lineup, you do so under the constraint of a salary cap. Each player’s “price” is correlated to their moneyline odds: a massive favorite will be expensive, and an underdog will be cheap. It’s impossible to fill your lineup with expensive favorites, so you’ll need to pick a few underdogs in order to afford the Osaka’s, Nadal’s and Djokovic's. Checking a player’s trending UTR rating is a great way to win at the margins, but at the end of the day, you’ll need a fair bit of luck in order to take home first place.
• TIP—Multiple Entries: What’s the best way to (try and) win the lottery? Buy more tickets. The same principle applies to large Tournament Contests. In order to maximize your chances of winning, submit a few lineups with a variety of players. You may run into some conflicts of rooting interest, but it’s your best chance to get one of your lineups into the digital winner’s circle.
• TIP—Avoid Costly Mistakes: Always check your lineup before the day’s play begins. If a player in your lineup withdraws, you will receive zero points, and you’ll lose any possible chance of finishing in the money.
• Scoring: Above all else, margin of victory is the most important metric for daily fantasy tennis. Players earn 2.5 fantasy points for every game won, and lose 2 points for each game lost. 30 points are awarded to each player at the start of the match, and their final tally will increase or decrease depending on games won and lost. (If your goal is to finish first place in a big contest, you will likely need all six of your players to win in straight sets.) Players are awarded .4 points for an ace, but be careful before picking only big servers, as a double fault will cost you a full point.

• TIP—Bonuses: Each player is awarded 6 points for a set won, and are penalized 3 for each set lost. They are awarded 4 bonus points for winning a set 6-0, and 6 bonus points for winning a match in straight sets. These bonus points add up, and are crucial for climbing to the top of the leaderboard. Players are also awarded 2 bonus points for hitting 10 or more aces.