It’s been a few months since a bright spotlight has been put on the sport of tennis, the last time that it was in the media and sports fan’s focus was back in January for the Australian Open. But the spotlight is back with the 2019 French Open coming our way, where the battle will now take place on clay. As far as favorites are concerned, Rafael Nadal currently leads in the men’s department, while Simona Halep is the favorite for the women.
There’s a good reason why Nadal is the favorite among the men: He’s already won 11 French Open championships and is aiming for his 12th, Nadal currently sits at +105. Halep enters as the favorite among the women due to winning the French Open last year. She’ll be looking to repeat as champion since Justin Henin did so in 2007.
It’ll be interesting to see if Nadal can win his 12th French Open, conversations are already starting to swirl around him about being 32 years old and durability could become a problem. But I honestly find it disrespectful. The man has won this tournament a total of 11 times, and this has been over 14 years as well — just incredible. On clay, he has a dominant 58-8 record and has only taken two losses at Roland Garros. How do you bet against that?
Nadal comes in as the back-to-back French Open champion, but there is one man who is a legitimate threat towards a repeat title for Nadal, and that’s Novak Djokovic — he would defeat Nadal back in 2015 in the quarterfinals. But here’s the problem with Djokovic: He’s a dismal 1-6 against Nadal at Roland Garros, and overall on clay, he’s got a horrible 7-17 record.
But at the end of the day, this is Novak Djokovic that we’re talking about and not just that, but what if Nadal does get hurt and is forced to withdraw? With that being said, you could make some serious money gambling on Djokovic, especially with Nadal being over a 100-point favorite. But keep in mind, if Nadal stays healthy, he’ll most likely win. Last week at the Italian Open on clay, Nadal would take it two sets to one when the two would meet up. But if Nadal is forced to be out of the tournament, Djokovic then becomes the heavy favorite.
On the women’s side, things are nowhere as clear, with this selection of a victor being difficult for even the most experienced sports gambler. Especially when you consider this factoid: Eight different tennis players have won this event over the past 10 years. Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova have both won the event two times over that stretch.
It’s hard to not make Simona Halep the favorite though, she’s currently placed at +400. The defending champion of the French Open has been in three finals since 2014, and would finally claim victory after getting a comeback victory against Sloane Stephens. She is coming in off of disappointment though, losing in the Round of 32 at the Italian Open — she would suffer defeat to Marketa Vondrusova — still a solid run through. She would also make another solid run during the Australian Open, making it all the way to the quarterfinals before losing to Caroline Wozniacki.
And here’s probably the top reason why you’d want to make Halep the favorite for this season: She would enter the French Open as the favorite at +550, and would end up coming out as the victor as well.
As far as who the main competition will be for Halep, you can certainly look at Naomi Osaka at +1100 and Karolina Pliskova at +1200. In the last tournament, the Italian Open, Pliskova would come out as champion, and back in 2017, she made it all the way to the semifinals of the French Open.
Osaka is self-explanatory, winning over Serena Williams in the 2018 US Open. But not just that: Osaka comes in as the No. 1 ranked player in the world in women’s tennis, and she’s the defending champion of both the US and Australian Open. Despite the French Open being on clay and those tournaments being a hard surface, it’s still worth taking Osaka at +1100 odds. Some serious cash can from that with a championship.
The reason why the legendary Serena Williams come in with distant +1200 odds is due to the challenge of being 37 years old. Obviously, the older you get, the less durable you become. Williams faces that tremendously at this stage of her career, and that’s why we have the odds that we do. But she would be a solid pick to make as a long shot, she’s still Serena Williams.
Rafael Nadal comes in as not only the defending back-to-back champion of the French Open, but he’s also coming into the tournament with a wave of momentum after winning the last tournament of the Italian Open — Nadal would defeat Novak Djokovic, 6-0, 4-6, 6-1. Before then, he would get to the semifinals in the Mutua Madrid Open and would end up losing to Stefanos Tsitsipas. He also has another semifinals appearance in the tournament before that in the Barcelona Open, he would lose to No. 3 Dominic Thiem in that one. With three great showings in his past three tournaments and winning the last two French Opens, this is certainly Nadal’s tournament to lose.
You already know the legend of Novak Djokovic, the man does his thing, but he really struggles something serious on clay — a surface that the French Open has as well. In his most recent event with the Italian Open, Djokovic made it all the way to the final, but would eventually lose to Rafael Nadal, 0-6, 6-4, 1-6. In the Madrid Open, he would make the final again, and in that tournament he would take the championship over Stefanos Tsitsipas, 6-3, 6-4. Before then in the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, he would take an upset to No. 10 Daniil Medvedev, 3-6, 6-4, 2-6, in the quarterfinals. As you see, it’s probably inevitable that Nadal and Djokovic will meet in the French Open final, but you still have to ride with Nadal. Djokovic is just horrible on clay.
Dominic Thiem would take an upset in the Italian Open when he would lose in the 2nd Round to Fernando Verdasco, 6-4, 4-6, 5-7, but he would have two solid performances beforehand. In the Madrid Open, he would advance all the way to the semifinals before losing to elite Novak Djokovic, 6-7 (2-7), 6-7 (4-7), in an intense thriller. He would claim the title at the Barcelona Open after defeating No. 1 Rafael Nadal in the semifinals and then he would take out No. 7 Daniil Medvedev, 6-4, 6-0, in the final. But I’d go ahead and take this pick with caution if you choose to make it: He had more inconsistency getting bounced in the 3rd Round to Dusan Lajovic in the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.
There’s a reason why Stefanos Tsitsipas is high in the odds, and that’s because he’s riding a wave of momentum after three impressive showings in each of his last three tournaments. In the Italian Open, he would make it all the way to the semifinals before losing to No. 2 Rafael Nadal, 3-6, 4-6. If it wasn’t for that loss, Tsitsipas probably would have won the title. He would defeat No. 3 Roger Federer in the quarterfinals. It was the same deal in the last tournament before then in the Madrid Open. Tsitsipas would make it all the way to the final before suffering defeat to the elite Novak Djokovic, 3-6, 4-6 — if it wasn’t for Djokovic in the way, he would have won the title. He would defeat Nadal in the semifinals. Before then, he would claim the championship in the Millennium Estoril Open after winning the final over Pablo Cuevas, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4).
Simona Halep would have a disappointing showing in her last tournament of the Italian Open, she would get upset in the 2nd round by Marketa Vondrousova, 6-2, 5-7, 3-6. Before then, she would have an elite showing in the Madrid Open making it all the way to the final before losing to No. 7 Kiki Bertens. She would have another decent showing back in March with the Miami Open as well, getting all the way to the semifinals before losing against another top-ranked opponent in No. 5 Karolina Pliskova, 5-7, 1-6. Before then, she would take another upset to Vondrousova, 2-6, 6-3, 2-6. As you can see, she’s nowhere as much of a favorite as Rafael Nadal is with the men.
In her past three tournaments, Kiki Bertens has had solid performances, and if you think about and consider her constant improvement, you have to feel that a Grand Slam victory has to be on a horizon — this is why she’s second in the women’s odds. In the most recent, the Italian Open, Bertens would get all the way to the semifinals before losing to Johanna Konta, 7-5, 5-7, 2-6, but before then, she would claim the championship of the Madrid Open over No. 3 Simona Halep, 6-4, 6-4. As you know, Halep is the current favorite to win the French Open. Before then, she would have another solid performance in the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix making it all the way to the semifinals before losing to No. 3 Petra Kvitova. As I said, a Grand Slam victory has to be on the horizon for Bertens — she’ll get her break eventually.
It’s no surprise that Naomi Osaka comes in as one of the favorites to win the French Open, and in her last three tournaments, she’s taken care of business with them as well with deep runs in each. In the Italian Open, she would make it to the quarterfinals before taking a loss to top-ranked No. 6 Kiki Bertens in a walkover. She would lose again in the quarterfinals in the Madrid Open to Belinda Bencic, 6-3, 2-6, 5-7. Before then, she would get a bit further with a semifinals appearance in the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix before losing to another top-ranked opponent in No. 8 Anett Kontaveit in another walkover. Needless to say, Osaka will be making yet another deep run in the French Open — you can definitely expect that.
Sloane Stephens made deep runs in two of her last three tournaments, but her inconsistency in her most recent Italian Open appearance is what concerns me about picking her in the French Open — a Grand Slam. Her first solid performance would come in the Madrid Open, where she would advance all the way to the semifinals before losing to No. 7 Kiki Bertens, 2-6, 5-7, and then would turn around and make it to the quarterfinals in the Volvo Car Open — she would lose to top-ranked No. 8 Madison Keys, 6-7 (6-8), 6-4, 2-6. But here’s the inconsistency that concerns me that I mentioned earlier: In her most recent event in the Italian Open, she would suffer a 2nd Round bounce to Johanna Konta, 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 1-6. I’d personally stay away from Stephens.
REST OF THE PACK – WOMEN’S
Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.
