The second week of the French Open begins on Sunday and with us being down to the round of 16 in both singles draws the matches are condensed to the two main show courts from here on in which makes following things a whole lot easier.
We are absolutely littered with big names on show on Sunday with two schedules which look fantastic from start to finish so there is no reason not to put the feet up and enjoy what looks to be a cracking day of tennis in the French capital.
Philippe Chatrier Court
It goes without saying that we have a stellar looking schedule on the main court on Sunday and the action gets underway with the woman who was a win from winning the title a year ago in Jasmine Paolini. She meets Elina Svitolina in a juicy starter. The main course in the day session is tasty looking as well as the defending champion Iga Swiatek meets the former Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina and then for dessert to close off the day session we have the other current title holder in Carlos Alcaraz going up against the American hotshot Ben Shelton. The night session shouldn’t let us down either as two young guns battle it out for a place in the quarter finals when Lorenzo Musetti meets Holger Rune in a match which should be full of firecrackers.
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Suzanne Lenglen Court
The other four matches on Sunday take place over on the second court where ticket holders certainly aren’t going to be short of quality on show. It is actually the men who get the action up and running at this part of Roland Garros when Alexei Popyrin meets Tommy Paul. The Olympic champion follows them onto the court as Qinwen Zheng takes on Liudmila Samsonova. When they are done the world number one Aryna Sabalenka will look to continue her progress in the competition when she meets the equally big hitting Amanda Anisimova. The final match of the day comes from the men’s draw where the only unseeded player on show on Sunday, Daniel Altmaier, looks to continue his fairytale run when he takes on Frances Tiafoe.
Betting
Two bets attract my attention on Sunday with the first one coming in the men’s draw where I think it is time to oppose Tommy Paul. He has been on the court for eight hours in his last two matches and while nobody can question his fighting spirit, that has to catch up with him at some point, especially as he is struggling with a stomach or abdomen injury. Alexei Popyrin feels like a good guy to oppose him with as he has the power to take the racquet away from anyone in the game. Popyrin is yet to drop a set in this tournament whereas Paul has come through deciding sets in his last two matches. Paul does hold a 3-1 lead in their past meetings but the last two have gone to a deciding set and with the fitness questions around the American I’ll go with the Australian at a decent price here.
Holger Rune really tempted me in his match with Lorenzo Musetti but I’m on him outright so I can let him win if he is good enough and instead take Amanda Anisimova to win a set as my other bet. She meets the world number one Aryna Sabalenka who she has a wonderful record against. The American leads 5-2 in their past meetings and is 3-1 on clay. Only once has Anisimova not won a set against the Belarusian and she is hitting the ball well enough here to trouble Sabalenka, who might start to feel the pressure from here on in. To be fair to Sabalenka, she has only dropped 10 games in her three matches so far but she goes massively up in grade here. Anisimova is yet to drop a set though and she has the power to outhit even Sabalenka. Whether she has enough to record another win remains to be seen but there is enough to suggest the outsider can win a set here.
Tips
Back A.Popyrin to beat T.Paul for a 3/10 stake at 2.50 with Sky Bet
Back A.Anisimova (+1.5 sets) to beat A.Sabalenka for a 3/10 stake at 2.38 with Sky Bet
