The second day of the French Open is much busier than the opening one in terms of the number of matches although whether it can contain as much drama remains to be seen as the tournament got off to an amazing start on Sunday.
The cast list for the event on Monday is of the very highest quality with the likes of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Petra Kvitova, Caroline Wozniacki, Stan Wawrinka and Maria Sharapova all take to the courts for the first time.
Day 1 Recap
It was not a good day for the seeded players in the women’s draw with the defending champion the highest seed to fall when Jelena Ostapenko was beaten in straight sets. Venus Williams also lost in straight sets as did Jo Konta. Elina Svitolina had to survive a huge scare but she did make it through. In the men’s draw the likes of Grigor Dimitrov, Alexander Zverev, Gael Monfils and Kei Nishikori made it through easily enough while Fernando Verdasco and David Goffin had to go five sets before coming through.
It was a good day for us betting wise with our sole outright in action safely through in the form of Anett Kontaveit. We are up and running for the match betting too with Federico Delbonis coming past Thomaz Bellucci in four sets to bring in our handicap safely enough.
Philippe Chatrier Court
Petra Kvitova gets the chance to open up play on the main court on Monday morning when she faces Veronica Cepede Royg of Paraguay. It is then the turn of Novak Djokovic to begin his campaign when he faces Rogerio Dutra Silva of Brazil. Caroline Wozniacki then starts her quest for a second Grand Slam in succession when she faces Danielle Collins before the action concludes with the man everyone wants to see as Rafael Nadal faces the lucky, or unlucky, loser Simone Bolelli.
Suzanne Lenglen Court
Former men’s champion Stan Wawrinka is first up on the second court. He faces the stiff challenge of Guillermo Garcia-Lopez before French star Kristina Mladenovic faces Andrea Petkovic in an appealing first round match. Another French player is next on the court when Richard Gasquet takes on the veteran Andreas Seppi with play concluding with a clash between Maria Sharapova and Richel Hogenkamp.
Court 1
Benoit Paire will hope to thrill the home crowd first up when he takes on Roberto Carballes Baena of Spain and then out main men’s outright Dominic Thiem is on court. He plays Ilya Ivashka of Belarus before two women’s matches conclude proceedings. Laura Siegemund takes on Coco Vandeweghe and Karolina Pliskova goes up against Barbora Krejcikova.
Court 3
Improving Japanese star Naomi Osaka is first up on Court 3 when she plays the American player Sofia Kenin before Roberto Bautista Agut takes to the court against Denis Istomin who knocked Novak Djokovic out of the Australian Open last year. Diego Schwartzman then goes up against the Frenchman Calvin Hemery and we conclude with Heather Watson going up against Oceane Dodin of France.
Best of the Rest
Once again if you have a ground pass on Monday you won’t be disappointed with the talent you get to see. Camila Giorgi begins things on Court 5 while Elise Mertens and Philipp Kohlschreiber are both in action on Court 6. Sam Querrey, Belinda Bencic, Daria Kasatkina, David Ferrer, John Isner and Madison Keys are also all in action on the outside courts over the course of the day.
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Men’s Betting
I’ll go with three in the men’s draw on Monday. The first of them comes in the match between Nicoloz Basilashvili and Gilles Simon. The Frenchman should be in a good frame of mind having had a decent run to the final in Lyon last week but he is getting no younger and I wonder if that run will have taken its toll. Basilashvili is fairly fresh coming in here but he is dangerous with his power as he has shown on a few occasions. The Georgian is much the younger man here and that could be what gets him over the line.
I’m actually more than a little surprised that Philipp Kohlscheiber is the outsider in his match against Borna Coric. The Croatian was in great touch on the hard courts earlier in the year but things have gone a little quieter for him since then. Kohlschreiber has been in decent touch and he has a lot of experience at this Slam and this level. I expect the world rankings to play out here and the seeded German to progress.
I’ll also take the recent winner in Estoril, Joao Sousa, to come past Guido Pella in a match the odds makers have as even but if the Portuguese can begin well he can make this a little easier than it looks on paper. Pella surprisingly hasn’t offered too much on the clay and so I think he could be there for the taking here. Sousa rarely lacks for confidence and with the tournament win a few weeks ago he certainly shouldn’t now so I’m with him here.
Women’s Betting
I’ll go with just the one in the women’s draw where Heather Watson just has to be taken on. She hasn’t won a main tour match since Hobart in the opening week of the year and while Oceane Dodin is nothing special she does at least have home advantage here and she pushed Svetlana Kuznetsova all the way here last year having originally beaten Camila Giorgi in the first round. That showed she can perform in front of this passionate crowd and if they inspire her here she can have too much for what is a woeful Watson at the minute.
Tips
Back N.Basilashvili to beat G.Simon for a 4/10 stake at 2.50 with BetVictor
Back P.Kohlschreiber to beat B.Coric for a 4/10 stake at 2.20 with BetVictor
Back them here:
Back J.Sousa to beat G.Pella for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Skybet
Back him here:
Back O.Dodin to beat H.Watson for a 4/10 stake at 1.87 with Betfair
Back her here:
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