Last verified: 16 October 2026. This page is information about tennis in India and about the law that applies to online betting on it. It is not legal advice and it is not a recommendation to use any betting service. Laws and court cases on this subject are changing, so read the "Sources" list at the bottom and check the current position yourself.
Tennis in India has a proud history and a thin present. The country produced one of the great doubles eras in the sport, and its Davis Cup ties can still fill an arena, but the singles game has few players at the top level and most Indian fans follow the Grand Slams as television events. This page explains the Indian tennis landscape, how tennis betting markets are built, why tennis has a particular integrity problem that every bettor should understand, and what the law now says about betting on tennis online in India.
Indian tennis: past and present
The 1990s and 2000s belong to the doubles pairing of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, who won Grand Slam titles together and separately and made India a doubles power. Sania Mirza won six Grand Slam titles across doubles and mixed doubles and became the best-known Indian woman in the sport. More recently Rohan Bopanna won the 2024 Australian Open men's doubles title and, at 43, became the oldest man to reach the world number one doubles ranking.
The current singles picture is harder. According to Wikipedia, Sumit Nagal's career-high singles ranking is world number 68, reached in July 2024, and published figures for his ranking in September 2026 put him in the low 200s, with sources differing on the exact number. In the Davis Cup, reporting from The Bridge and others says India beat the Netherlands 3-2 in Bengaluru in February 2026 and then lost 3-1 to South Korea in Seoul on 18-19 September, which sends India into the first round of the 2027 qualifiers. In September 2025 India had beaten Switzerland 3-1 in Biel, with Nagal winning the deciding rubber. Ranking positions and tie results change constantly, so check the ATP and ITF sites for the current picture.
How tennis betting markets are built
This section describes how markets work in general, as background for understanding the sport and the risks. It is not an invitation to bet.
- Match winner. Two outcomes, no draw. Prices reflect ranking, form, head-to-head record and, above all, the surface: clay, grass and hard courts reward different games.
- Set betting and set handicaps. A bet on the exact score (for example 2-1) or on a player to win by a set margin. They pay more because they are harder to call.
- Total games and game handicaps. Over/under markets on the number of games, or a head start in games. Weather, indoor conditions and serve strength all matter.
- First set winner and in-play markets. Prices update after every point. A break of serve, a medical timeout or a rain delay can move a price sharply.
Every price includes the bookmaker's margin. Converting the prices of both players into implied probabilities gives a total above 100 percent; the excess is the margin. One rule that catches people out is what happens if a player retires or is disqualified mid-match: different operators settle those cases differently, and some void the bet while others settle it if a set has been completed. Reading the settlement rule before staking money is not optional.
Tennis and match-fixing
Tennis is an individual sport played in thousands of events a year, many of them low-level tournaments with little prize money and little media attention. That combination makes it unusually exposed to corruption, and the sport's integrity body, the International Tennis Integrity Agency, exists for that reason. For ordinary fans the lesson is simple: "fixed match" tips are scams, and an unusual price movement on an obscure match is more likely to be a trap than an opportunity.
The law: online money games are now prohibited
The legal position changed fundamentally in 2025 and 2026. The key points, as reported by the sources listed below, are these.
- A national law. The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 was passed by Parliament in the week of 20 to 21 August 2025 and received presidential assent on 22 August 2025. It prohibits online money games.
- The definition is broad. According to PRS Legislative Research's summary of the bill, an online money game is an online game in which a user pays money or other stakes in the expectation of receiving money or other enrichment, irrespective of whether the game is based on skill, chance or both. Credits, coins and tokens that are equivalent or convertible to money count as stakes. In our reading, an online wager on a tennis match fits that description, but we are not lawyers and the Act's application to individual products is a legal question.
- Who is targeted. The prohibitions are aimed at offering or aiding such games, advertising them, and facilitating financial transactions for them. PRS reports penalties of up to three years' imprisonment and a fine of up to one crore rupees for offering them, and up to two years and a fine of up to 50 lakh rupees for advertising them. Law-firm commentary reported by Mondaq (Khaitan & Co) states that the Act does not penalise players who participate. That is a statement about the Act's penalty provisions, not an assurance that playing is safe: money can be lost, accounts can be frozen, and offshore sites have no obligation to pay you.
- Blocking and enforcement. The central government can block access to online money gaming services, and the bill gave authorised officers powers of search and arrest without warrant for the offences of offering and of facilitating financial transactions, which it described as cognisable and non-bailable.
- The rules. MediaNama reports that the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Rules, 2026 were notified on 22 April 2026 and apply from 1 May 2026. They set up an interministerial Online Gaming Authority and a process to determine whether a particular game counts as an online money game.
- Court challenges. The Act is being challenged in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court Observer tracks the case; at the time of writing we found no ruling striking the Act down. The final outcome is uncertain.
Two further points matter. First, e-sports and "social" games with no stakes are treated differently from money games under the Act, so the law does not prohibit watching or following tennis online. Second, the Act is about online services. Betting that is offline falls under state laws, which differ.
State laws and offline betting
Under India's constitution, betting and gambling are a state subject, so the rules differ by state. The Public Gambling Act, 1867 is an old central law that most states adopted or replaced with their own. Commentary from iPleaders and others describes the general picture: most states prohibit gambling, with limited exceptions such as lotteries and betting on horse racing, and a few places (Goa, Sikkim and Daman) license casinos under their own laws. Sikkim has also been described as having permitted licensed online sports betting within the state under older rules. Whether that survives the national Act is exactly the kind of question the court cases and the Authority will answer, so do not assume an older state permission still protects an online service today.
The practical point for a tennis fan: a state licence for a casino or a racing track does not make an online wager on a tennis match lawful, and an operator holding a licence from another country does not change Indian law for a user in India.
Advertising, payments and what has stopped
Because advertising of online money games is itself an offence under the Act, you should expect fewer open promotions around tennis, and you should be sceptical of any that remain. Banks and payment providers are also barred from facilitating transactions for such services. In practice this means deposits to betting sites may fail, and the sites that still take deposits through informal channels, personal UPI handles or crypto exchanges are the ones most likely to be fraudulent or to disappear with your balance.
Safety: what to watch for now
- Fake betting and "fantasy" sites. Copycat websites and messaging-app agents promise guaranteed wins or "fixed match" tips. Fixed-match tips are a classic scam: if a tip were real, nobody would sell it.
- Informal payments. Never send money to a personal account to "top up" a betting wallet. If the balance is later frozen, there is no one to complain to.
- Personal data and OTPs. Never share an OTP, card details or KYC documents with a site or agent you cannot verify.
- Reporting. India's national cybercrime helpline is 1930, and complaints can be filed at cybercrime.gov.in.
Responsible gambling
If betting is causing you stress, debt or problems at home, talk to someone. In India, Tele-MANAS (14416) is the government's free mental-health helpline. Setting a time and money limit before you watch a match, and treating any money you have already spent as gone, are simple ways to stay in control. If you are under the age of majority you must not take part in any form of betting.
Following tennis without betting
All the pleasure of tennis is available without a wager: the four Grand Slams on television and streaming, the ATP and WTA tours' own apps with live scores and point-by-point data, and the Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup for national-team drama. If you enjoy the strategy, you can follow the serve statistics, the surface records and the draw and make your own predictions with friends for no money.
Why one match proves little
A tennis match is decided by a small number of points. A player who wins 55 percent of points can still lose a match, and a single break of serve in a deciding set often settles it. A strong player can lose to a lower-ranked one on any given day because of fitness, a minor injury or a bad few games. A pattern of a few wins says very little about the next match, which is why there are no sure things in tennis.
Sources
We last checked these on 16 October 2026. Several are commentary rather than the gazette text of the law, and the legal position may have changed since.