British No 1 Andy Murray’s progress at Wimbledon has gripped the nation but not it seems punters in the betting shop local to the All England Club. 

Jenningsbet’s branch in The Broadway, Wimbledon had not seen massive interest in the Scot as he prepared to line up in the men’s singles semi-final.

Kevin Mulligan, Jenningsbet General Manager, said: “We’ve had no large bets on him and if you can’t get massive interest in the Wimbledon shop, I’m not sure where you would. Across the whole estate it’s been the same.”

However, online it’s been a different story. Betting on tennis generally on digital platforms has increased dramatically in recent years and Murray’s progress to a semi-final against Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and a possible first Wimbledon final, has seen a lot of activity.

Mulligan added: “Our website jenningsbet.com has seen increased activity the more Murray has progressed and I’m sure that’s true of other websites as well.”

Part of the reason for that is the ability of online bookmakers to offer more in-running markets but Mulligan is optimistic that shops will soon follow in offering increased opportunity to bet when events are taking place.

“We’re developing that capability,” added Mulligan, “and we hope to be offering more in-running markets later this year.”

But that’s not to say that tennis will become more popular in shops. “EURO 2012 was a huge success for us in retail, both in turnover and in results. But golf, and particularly The Open, is a better comparison with the tennis,” added Mulligan.

“We have a lot of punters betting on golf throughout the year and on The Open especially. Golf is something that’s increasing in betting popularity and we’ll get a lot of our customers placing bets on this year’s event in a couple of weeks.”