The third round of the French Open gets underway in Paris on Friday which means that for the first time at Roland Garros this year the seeded players get the chance to face off against each other on a decent looking day of tennis.
It is the day where we have both of the defending champions back on court as well as a couple of seriously dangerous challengers in both of the singles draws. The majority of the action takes place on the three main courts too which makes following it all a lot easier.
Philippe Chatrier Court
We are at the stage of the tournament where the schedule on the main court is almost guaranteed to be delicious and that is certainly the case on Friday where we get underway with the world number one Aryna Sabalenka who faces Olga Danilova who had an epic with Danielle Collins in the previous round. When they are done we will see the exciting Holger Rune looking to make it into the second week when he meets the home player Quinten Halys before the day session is concluded with the 2024 finalist Jasmine Paolini going up against Yuliia Starodubtseva. Once again we have a men’s match in the night session and it pits Carlos Alcaraz against Damir Dzumhur.
Suzanne Lenglen Court
We have seen some excellent action over on the Suzanne Lenglen Court this week and we should get even more on Friday with the Italian improver Lorenzo Musetti going up against Mariano Navone in the opening match before the defending champion on the women’s side of things in Iga Swiatek taking on Jaqueline Cristian. Two seeds face off against each other in the penultimate game of the day on this court when Elena Rybakina meets a former winner in Jelena Ostapenko before we conclude the day with two American seeds meeting when Frances Tiafoe goes up against Seb Korda.
Special Offer
Open a new Sporting Index account and bet £10 on the tournament (min odds 1/2) to get £20 in free bets (2x£10 free bets) to use on any sports market! Click the image below to take advantage of this great offer! 18+ T&Cs apply. Gamble Responsibly.
Simonne Mathieu Court
We have some decent names over on the Simone Mathieu Court on Friday as well and the Olympic champion Qinwen Zheng is the first of those. She opens up the order of play when she meets the lowly ranked Victoria Mboko. Two seasoned campaigners meet in the next match when Tommy Paul will look to make the second week at the expense of Karen Khachanov before Ben Shelton looks to make it another American player into the fourth round when he goes up against Matteo Gigante who is making his 167 world ranking look a bit daft. Elina Svitolina will look to make up for the disappointment of seeing her husband exit the tournament on Thursday night when she faces Bernarda Pera in the last match on this court.
Best of the Rest
That all leaves just the four singles matches mixed in with all the doubles around the ground on Friday. Three of those come along on Court 14 where we open up with a couple of seeds battling it out when Amanda Anisimova takes on Clara Tauson. When they are done Alexei Popyrin will look to make it into the second week on a surface which isn’t his best. He takes on Nuno Borges who walloped Casper Ruud in the previous round. Daniel Altmaier will look to continue his fine run in the last match on this court when he meets Hamad Medjedovic. The other singles match comes on Court 7 where Liudmila Samsonova faces Danaya Yastremska.
Betting
There are two bets that I like over the course of Friday, one in each draw. In the men’s draw I fancy Tommy Paul could be a big price to see off Karen Khachanov in the battle of two men who have to rebound from five-set epics in the previous round. Khachanov needed over four hours to get rid of Sebastian Ofner while Paul was on court for 25 minutes fewer in coming from 2-0 down to see off Marton Fucsovics. I guess this one could be survival of the fittest but Paul has had a much better clay court season, one which includes a win over Khachanov in Madrid. That took his record against the Russian to 2-0 and while this could very well be another close encounter, Paul arrived here the fresher of the two and that might make the difference.
Moving into the women’s draw I like Dayana Yastremska to get the better of Liudmila Samsonova. Samsonova had a good run in Strasbourg in the lead up to this tournament but this is the first year she has had a winning record on clay of more than one match since 2018. Most of her better work comes on the faster courts and I fancy she could be vulnerable against the Ukrainian who was ruthless in putting paid to the talented Diana Shnaider in the previous round. Yastremska has a much stronger record on clay of the two and as well as her win over Shnaider, she took Coco Gauff to a deciding set in Madrid and those form lines are enough to lure me in at odds against.
Tips
Back T.Paul to beat K.Khachanov for a 3/10 stake at 2.20 with William Hill
Back D.Yastremska to beat L.Samsonova for a 3/10 stake at 2.30 with William Hill
Back them here:
