The third round of the French Open gets underway on the main courts at Roland Garros on Friday as for the first time in the tournament the seeded players can meet, with places in the second week of the competition up for grabs.
We have a really good schedule to enjoy throughout the course of the day as well as the way the draw has worked out has thrown up some potentially very exciting matches in both the men’s and women’s draw.
Day 5 Recap
It was a largely drama lacking day in the men’s draw on Thursday as the likes of Daniil Medvedev, Casper Ruud, Hubert Hurkacz, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Andrey Rublev and Jannik Sinner all cruised through. Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka and Madison Keys also had no problem in getting through but there were surprise defeats for Karolina Pliskova, Danielle Collins, Jelena Ostapenko and Simona Halep as well as British number two Dan Evans.
It was not a great day for us betting wise on Thursday with Daniil Medvedev getting the better of Laslo Djere in straight sets despite the Serb being a break up in the opener and competitive in the other two. Yulia Putintseva was also a break up in the first set against Camila Giorgi but then she lost her mind and never really regained her focus in what was a straight sets defeat for her too so that leaves us with a bit of work to do on Friday.
Philippe Chatrier Court
The Olympic champion Belinda Bencic gets the action underway on the main court on Friday. She meets the US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez in what should be a good match to watch. When they are done the defending men’s champion Novak Djokovic steps onto the court. He has a meeting with Aljaz Bedene to overcome. The day session concludes with the former US Open champion Sloane Stephens going up against Diane Parry. The night match sees two of the best youngsters in the men’s game going at it when Sebastian Korda faces Carlos Alcaraz.
Suzanne Lenglen Court
It is the women who open up the action on the second court on Friday when the former semi-finalist Amanda Anisimova goes up against the Czech player Karolina Muchova. Coco Gauff is next onto this court when she takes on the veteran Kaia Kanepi before the French Open king Rafael Nadal is on court. The 13-time champion has a meeting with Botip van de Zandschulp to overcome. The final match on this court on Friday sees Alexander Zverev looking to make the second week of a Grand Slam. He takes on Brandon Nakashima.
Simonne Mathieu Court
It is the men who get the action started on the Simonne Mathieu Court on Friday when Grigor Dimitrov goes up against Diego Schwartzman in a contest which might last a while. When it is eventually done the former Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber graces the court to meet Aliaksandra Sasnovich before two seeded players collide when Victoria Azarenka takes on our remaining outright bet Jil Teichmann. The action concludes with the British number one Cameron Norrie taking on the Olympic silver medallist Karen Khachanov.
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Best of the Rest
There are just four other singles matches on show on Friday and they come out on Court 7 and Court 14. Over on Court 14 there is a women’s match between Martina Trevisan and Daria Saville and a men’s clash between Felix Auger-Aliassime and Filip Krajinovic. The women’s match on Court 7 sees Elise Mertens going up against Varvara Gracheva while John Isner meets Bernabe Zapata Miralles in the men’s contest.
Men’s Betting
I’ll go with one bet in the men’s draw on Friday and that comes on one of the outside courts where Felix Auger-Aliassime takes on Filip Krajinovic. Heading into this week I thought FAA was turning the corner in these major events after excellent runs at Wimbledon and the US Open last season and a positive run at the Australian Open this term but he was extremely lucky to get through the first round here and then took advantage of an unfit opponent in the second round. I’m not convinced clay is his thing either.
On his day Krajinovic has the tools to trouble the best players in the world, especially on this surface. He has already dumped out one decent server in Reilly Opelka this week and in the lead up to this tournament he saw off Andrey Rublev in Rome which is certainly a standout piece of form. The best work of FAA on clay this season has come in Madrid but we know that conditions are much faster there. I think the Canadian is vulnerable in this one and at 3/1 a small bet on the Serb to come through could be the way to go.
Women’s Betting
Aliaksandra Sasnovich did us a turn in the previous round and I think she is worth backing to see off Angelique Kerber on Friday. These two met in Strasbourg last week when Kerber came out on top on her way to the title but she has played so much tennis in the last 10 days or so that I think the Belarusian can get some sort of revenge here. Kerber has shown signs of not being at her best this week. She saved match points to an unknown in the first round and faced break points in six of her service games in the previous round.
Sasnovich found herself a set down to Emma Raducanu in the second round but from there she played world class tennis to outclass the US Open champion in a display of clean hitting and very confident tennis and if she can reach that level here then she should be able to get the better of a tired looking Kerber. Both their meetings have gone to a deciding set and that was when the German was fresh. That isn’t the case here so the even money on Sasnovich getting revenge feels the right play.
Tips
Back F.Krajinovic to beat F.Auger-Aliassime for a 2/10 stake at 4.00 with Bet365
Back A.Sasnovich to beat A.Kerber for a 3/10 stake at 2.00 with Betfair
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