The second Grand Slam of the year gets underway on Sunday when the stars of the tennis world head to Paris to compete on the clay courts of Roland Garros in the French Open, the culmination of the European clay season.
Carlos Alcaraz was the man who went all the way in this tournament a year ago and the Spaniard is back in the field looking to emulate his hero Rafael Nadal and make a successful defence of the crown. The draw has a real open look to it though.
Recent Winners
2024 – Carlos Alcaraz
2023 – Novak Djokovic
2022 – Rafael Nadal
2021 – Novak Djokovic
2020 – Rafael Nadal
2019 – Rafael Nadal
2018 – Rafael Nadal
2017 – Rafael Nadal
2016 – Novak Djokovic
2015 – Stan Wawrinka
The Format
There are 128 players in the draw which has been determined prior to the event beginning and the competition is a straight knockout over the best of five sets like the other Grand Slams. The new rule that has been blanketed across all Grand Slams for a few years is in place at this tournament where any deciding set which reaches 6-6 will be settled by a 10-point match tiebreak.
Top Quarter
The world number one Jannik Sinner is back from his ban and he is straight into the main draw here in Paris. He heads up the top quarter and is on course to run into Jack Draper in the quarter final if the section plays out to the rankings. Six other seeds will be hoping that isn’t the case. They are the Monte Carlo semi-finalist Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, Andrey Rublev, the leading home player Arthur Fils, Alex de Minaur who reached the last eight here a year ago, Jakub Mensik and the Geneva finalist Hubert Hurkacz.
There are household names who are unseeded in all four quarters in this draw and perhaps the two most recognised of them find themselves in this section in the entertaining home favourite Gael Monfils and the new kid on the scene in the Brazilian young star Joao Fonseca. Other French players who will have the crowds behind them in this quarter include Benjamin Bonzi, Pierre-Hugues Herbert, Alexandre Muller, Arthur Rinderknech and Richard Gasquet. Other names who catch the eye include Jaume Munar, Jiri Lehecka, Nicolas Jarry and Alexander Bublik.
Second Quarter
Alexander Zverev is still searching for a first Grand Slam title and the German, who was the winner in Munich last month, is the top seed in the second quarter of the draw this year. His seeded opponent in the quarter final is scheduled to be the former champion Novak Djokovic in what would be a tasty clash. The six seeds out to stop that from happening are Denis Shapovalov, the home player Ugo Humbert, Daniil Medvedev, Grigor Dimitrov, Francisco Cerundolo and Felix Auger-Aliassime.
There are a few recognisable names in the unseeded ranks in this quarter with Learner Tien one of the highly rated youngsters while more established players include Matteo Arnaldi, Tallon Griekspoor and Dusan Lajovic who are all capable of causing some surprises. Mackenzie McDonald and Marcos Giron will hope to go well for America while British eyes will be on this quarter as it houses Cameron Norrie and Jacob Fearnley. Corentin Moutet represents France in this section and the former champion Stan Wawrinka is here too.
Third Quarter
The American number one Taylor Fritz is the leading seed in the third quarter of the draw this year. He doesn’t have the best clay court record though and is just 3-3 on the dirt this term so that will certainly keep his potential quarter final opponent Lorenzo Musetti very much interested. The other six seeds in this section won’t mind it either and they are Alex Michelsen, Seb Korda, Frances Tiafoe, Holger Rune, Tomas Machac and Brandon Nakashima, all of whom will see the chance to go deep here.
As with the other quarters there are various players in this section that are unseeded who could surprise as the fortnight goes on. Jenson Brooksby is looking to get back to where he was a couple of years ago while the Spanish veterans Pablo Carreno Busta and Roberto Bautista Agut are both in this quarter. Botic van de Zandschulp, Sebastian Baez and Miomir Kecmanovic are three others with the quality to ring a surprise if given the chance.
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Bottom Quarter
It is in the bottom quarter of the draw where the defending champion Carlos Alcaraz will look to make a successful title defence from. He is seeded to run into the Madrid champion Casper Ruud in what would be a juicy quarter final should it happen. The six seeds looking to make sure it doesn’t are Alexei Popyrin, Karen Khachanov, Tommy Paul, Ben Shelton, Stefanos Tsitsipas and the home player Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.
As with the other sections there are more recognisable unseeded names in this quarter of the draw too. Tomas Martin Etcheverry is among the bigger of those players, especially on this surface, while Lorenzo Sonego is certainly capable of doing some damage here too. Albert Ramos-Vinolas, Nuno Borges, Alejandro Tabilo and Jan-Lennard Struff have all been successful on this surface. Hugo Gaston is one of many who will be hoping to use the crowd to their advantage.
Outright Betting
There is a feeling that this is an open competition and I wouldn’t go against that but at the same time it wouldn’t be the biggest surprise known to man if it is a Jannik Sinner vs Carlos Alcaraz final either. There is an obvious weak quarter in this draw though and that lures me onto the attack because Taylor Fritz doesn’t have a brilliant record on clay this season and I wonder if there is a little too much expectation on Lorenzo Musetti now.
That could open the door for the Barcelona champion Holger Rune. One of the positive things about the Dane is when he won on this surface in Spain he beat both Casper Ruud and Carlos Alcaraz in doing so and if he faces one of those in the semi-final that would certainly bode well for us. Rune hasn’t done much since then but he only went down in a deciding tiebreak in Rome recently so it isn’t like his form isn’t there. Rune has twice been a quarter finalist here and with this draw he could easily go deeper than that.
Quarter Betting
I’ll leave the top quarter alone because I can’t really find a value alternative to Jannik Sinner but there is value to be had in the second and fourth quarters. In the second one Francisco Cerundolo looks to have a nice draw. We know clay is his favourite surface and although he hasn’t won a title on it in the European swing, he did make the semi-final in Madrid and he has a win over Alexander Zverev, his potential last 16 opponent on it. Clearly Novak Djokovic could be a problem in the quarter final but he’s played a decent amount of tennis in the lead up to this and isn’t the sure thing he once was. At the prices I think the Argentine is decent value here.
The other bet I like is for Casper Ruud to win the bottom quarter. It is highly likely that it will be a Casper Ruud against Carlos Alcaraz quarter final but the Spaniard does have the potentially tricky challenge of Stefanos Tsitsipas in his way before he gets to that stage so there isn’t a complete guarantee that match takes place. Ruud is a former finalist here so we know he knows how to navigate this draw and his win in Madrid tells us he is playing well. Beating Alcaraz would be a big challenge but he wouldn’t be 7/1 in a match between the two. Ruud only trails 4-3 on the head-to-head with the defending champion so I’ll pay to see if he can come out on top in this quarter.
Tips
Back H.Rune to win French Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 51.00 with Boylesports (1/2 1-2)
Back him here:
Back F.Cerundolo to win 2nd Quarter for a 2/10 stake at 6.50 with Betway
Back C.Ruud to win 4th Quarter for a 1/10 stake at 8.00 with Betfred
