The final Grand Slam of the year gets underway on Sunday when the French Open begins at Roland Garros in Paris on a day where we get to see plenty of big names beginning their quest for major silverware right from the off.
Sometimes in Grand Slams, and this one in particular with the extra day of action, we have to wait a little for a tournament to heat up but with the way the draw has worked out this year big matches come along right from the off.
Philippe Chatrier Court
There is some brilliant action to enjoy on the main show court on Sunday, a court which is sure to keep plenty of the attention of the TV coverage. It begins with David Goffin going up against the Next Gen star Jannik Sinner in what is a horrible draw for both men. Once they are done the top seed in the women’s draw will be in action as Simona Halep meets the Spanish player Sara Sorribes Tormo. There is a second women’s match on the main court after that which sees the entertaining Anett Kontaveit going up against the home player Caroline Garcia before the action on Chatrier concludes with an absolute belter from days gone by as Stan Wawrinka meets Andy Murray.
Suzanne Lenglen Court
The US Open finalist Victoria Azarenka opens up what is a decent looking schedule on the second court on Sunday. She begins her bid to go one better than she managed in New York when she meets Danka Kovinic before French veteran Jeremy Chardy will look to give the few fans around something to cheer when he meets the qualifier Jurij Rodionov. The big women’s match of the day comes along third on the Lenglen court when the semi-finalist last year Jo Konta takes on the bright young superstar Coco Gauff before the schedule concludes with the other beaten US Open finalist on show when Alexander Zverev takes on Dennis Novak in what could be an awkward encounter for the German.
Simonne Mathieu Court
The third of the show courts also has four appealing matches on them with seeds and big names on show throughout. The in form Elise Mertens kick starts the day. She has a meeting with Margarita Gasparyan to negotiate before Venus Williams begins another Grand Slam tilt. She faces off against the Slovakian player Anna Karolina Schmiedlova before the schedule concludes with a couple of men’s matches. Benoit Paire has been the subject of plenty of controversy over the last month in particular but he can let his tennis do the talking on Sunday when he meets Kwon Soonwoo before the last match as the man who took out Rafael Nadal in Rome on show as Diego Schwartzman faces Miomir Kecmanovic.
Best of the Rest
It isn’t a full schedule on Sunday but there are still some big names dotted in and around the grounds over the course of the day for the few fans in attendance to enjoy and for us to watch on the various streams on offer. Among the seeds are Maria Sakkari, John Isner, Borna Coric, Alex de Minaur and Yulia Putintseva while Kei Nishikori and Genie Bouchard are just some of the names looking to show their best form on the opening day of the tournament.
Special Offer
Opt in and place 5 accumulators either in a Boylesports shop or online and get an acca free! Click the image below to bet. ALL CUSTOMERS! 18+ T&Cs apply. Gamble Aware.
Men’s Betting
I’ll start off the tournament simply with just the one bet as this is going to be a chaotic fortnight you would think with the much slower conditions than we usually get in this tournament given that it is four months later in the year. The bet I like is for Marco Cecchinato to see off Alex de Minaur even with the Italian as a favourite. I’m never really confident taking de Minaur on a clay court but I don’t see much of what he has going for him here.
The Australian will get to a lot of balls but his power will be negated and the Italian, who is extremely comfortable on clay and who has good memories of this tournament from his run to the semi-final a couple of years ago, should be better suited, not least because he has won three matches in qualifying to make it into the main draw. These two have only met on clay once in their careers which was in Rome last year which the Italian won. I expect him to back that up here.
Women’s Betting
I’ll only go with the one bet in the women’s draw on Sunday as well until we see what conditions are like and how they are playing and everything else. The bet I like involves the British number one Jo Konta who will be looking to back up her run to the semi-finals here last year with another impressive run this year. She goes up against the exciting but currently out of form Coco Gauff in a match I’m expecting the Briton to win.
I’m no fan of siding with Konta in majors and I hate backing her as a favourite at any time but it tends to be later in the tournament when she tends to get in her own way and beat herself. I watched Gauff in the US Open against Anastasija Sevastova and it was a tough watch. Her serve seems to have fallen apart on the second delivery and it looks to be affecting the rest of her game. That won’t be lost on Konta and while she is chopping and changing coaches like never been seen before, someone will tell her to go after the serve of the youngster and break it down. Assuming she does that she can cover a 1.5 game handicap.
Daily Accumulator
Usually we like to get involved in daily accumulators over the course of these Grand Slams but there is just too much uncertainty in this tournament for that to be an effective way of betting. There are going to be Covid issues and then the rain will cause significant delays so we’ll put the accumulators away and bring that element of the previews back in Melbourne next year should that tournament get to go ahead.
Tips
WON – Back M.Cecchinato to beat A.de Minaur for a 3/10 stake at 1.73 with Bet365
Back J.Konta (-1.5 games) to beat C.Gauff for a 3/10 stake at 1.80 with Bet365
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2020
