French Open Betting Offers & Tips – 26th May to 9th June 2024

The French Open makes up one of the four Grand Slams in the tennis calendar. As a result, the tournament is widely regarded as one of the pinnacles of tennis and its stature is only equalled by that of the other major tournaments.

Often referred to as the Roland Garros, it takes place at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris over two weeks, traditionally starting in late May and carrying into June. It is the only one of the four tennis Grand Slams to be played on a clay surface.

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Men's Singles Betting Tips

Please note: The following tips are for 2023 and will be updated shortly before the event starts.

The 14-time Champion Rafa Nadal may have a well-deserved statue at Roland Garros, but the man himself won’t be in evidence in 2023. Out of action since a second-round loss at the Australian Open, the soon-to-be 37-year-old Spaniard will miss his favourite event for the first time since winning on debut back in 2005. Nadal’s absence leaves a glaring hole in the field and - with suggestions that he will retire at the end of 2024 - this year's event has a strong feeling of the changing of the guard.

No one will be happy to see Nadal miss out, but his absence automatically increases the chances of everyone else, in what could be the most open renewal in years. The field certainly doesn’t lack in quality, with the Top 10 players in the world all set to take to the famous clay courts, with the action getting underway on 28th May and the final taking place on Sunday 11th June. So if not defending champion Nadal, who will be raising the famous trophy aloft? Here we take a look at the tournament favourites, a selection of lively outsiders, and pick out our best bets for what looks set to be a cracking fortnight of action.

The Favourites

Spain may have a ready-made replacement for Rafa, in the shape of 20-year-old sensation Carlos Alcaraz, who last season became the youngest world number 1 in the history of the sport. Still topping the rankings heading into this event, the 6ft right-hander has largely continued where he left off in the current season. So far in 2023, Alcaraz boasts a 30-3 win-loss record and is 20-2 on clay. With two of his three losses coming on the back of an event win, they can be partially forgiven due to fatigue. The third defeat by the 116-ranked Fabiab Marozsan last time out in Rome was more surprising, but does mean he will arrive in Paris fresh and well-rested. Last year's U.S. Open winner has already picked up three clay court titles this season, in Barcelona, Buenos Aires, and Madrid, and looks worthy of his status as the 6/4 favourite.

Next in line at 23/10 is 2016 and 2021 champion Novak Djokovic. Having drawn level with Nadal on 22 Grand Slam wins following his victory at this year’s Australian Open, Djokovic will move clear as the most successful player in the history of the sport with a win here. Djokovic’s motivation and overall brilliance can’t be doubted, but his current form does raise a few question marks.

Beginning the year with a 15-match winning streak, the Serb hasn’t looked like the same player since returning from an injury/enforced break. At 3-5 overall on clay this season, losses to Lorenzo Musetti, Dusan Lajovic and – to a lesser extent – Holger Rune in Rome, suggest that the 34-year-old is still finding his way back to peak form. Nevertheless, he has been there and done it so many times on the big stage that another deep run would hardly come as a surprise.

Just about topping the current form stats is world number 2 Daniil Medvedev (9/1). The 2021 U.S. Open champ has flown out of the traps in 2023, with his total of five titles leading the way on the men’s tour. On the downside, he has never made it past the quarter final stage here, with that performance being a symptom of his overall 18-23 record on clay. However, the signs are that the Russian star may be beginning to adapt to the slow surface. 10-2 on clay in 2023, he arrives on a high, having lifted the ATP Masters 1000 title in Rome.

The only other player available at a single-figure price is 20-year-old Dane Holger Rune (9/1). Making his debut at the event in 2022, Rune put in a strong display en route to a last-eight defeat to Casper Ruud. A winner on clay in Munich already this season, and a beaten finalist in Rome, he looks well placed to build on last year’s promising effort.

Outsiders

One of the more obvious contenders available at a double-figure price is last year's runner-up, Casper Ruud (20/1). Also going close when beaten by Alcaraz in the U.S. Open Final, he boasts the game to contend here if anywhere near his best. However, with a 15-10 record so far in 2022, he doesn’t come into this year's event in the same type of form as 12 months ago. Perhaps the Grand Slam atmosphere will inspire him, but on recent evidence, he needs to up his game.

Greek number 1 and world number 5, Stefanos Tsitipas (12/1) has a solid record here, with a semi-final appearance in 2020 and a runner-up finish in 2022. Dumped out in the fourth round by Rune last year, he has started the current season in decent form – losing to Djokovic in the final in Australia and being outdueled by Alcaraz in Barcelona. Two ATP Masters 1000 titles on clay show he is capable of getting the job done against the best, and with one major stumbling block removed from the draw, he could go well once again.

Of those available at a really big price, Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime may well outrun his 100/1 odds. A quarter finalist here in 2022, he came close to repeating that effort 12 months ago, only to run into Nadal in the last 16. Even then, he made the Roland Garros legend pull out all the stops in a five-set thriller.

Predictions & Tips

Given his stellar record and vast experience, we are always a little reluctant to oppose the mighty Djokovic in any slam event. However, a combination of his advancing years and a disrupted season may just see him come up short. On current form, Alcaraz is difficult to bet against. That recent loss in Rome is only a minor concern for a player who possesses all the tools required to succeed here and, a little scarily, is likely to still be improving. He rates our main bet in the event.

Overall, it’s tough to see the winner coming from outside the top two in the betting. However, with the draw yet to be made, Alcaraz and Djokovic may yet end up in the same half– a situation which would suddenly lend an appealing each-way element to the event. With the draw remaining a mystery at present, we would suggest a small each-way play on Canadian number 1, Felix Auger-Aliassime at a massive price. In possession of the type of relentless game which can wear the opposition down on this surface, and having given Nadal a fright here 12 months ago, the 22-year-old looks decent value to give backers a run for their money.

Betting Tip – Carlos Alcaraz to win at 6/4

Each Way Tip – Félix Auger-Aliassime at 100/1

Women's Singles Betting Tips

Please note: The following tips are for 2023 and will be updated shortly before the event starts.

The lead-up to the 2023 women’s event has been blighted by a spate of injuries. Simona Halep, Garbine Muguruza, Elise Mertens, and Britain’s Emma Raducanu all miss out, whilst there are less serious concerns regarding the fitness of Victoria Azarenka, Anhelina Kalinina and – most significantly of all – defending champion Iga Swiatek.

Traditionally way more unpredictable than the men’s game, there has been a slight shift in recent years, with Swiatek, Arnya Sabalenka, and Elena Rybakina emerging as a notch above the competition. Will we be in for more of the same here? Or could we be in for an upset?

The Favourites

Red-hot favourite for the event is the aforementioned Iga Swiatek. Odds of 8/11 may initially appear pretty short, but a quick look through the record of the 21-year-old Pole suggests that she is thoroughly deserving of her status as the clear market leader. A winner here in 2020 and 2022, her performance 12 months ago was one of almost utter dominance, dropping only one set in seven matches. A recent withdrawal at the Italian Open is a slight concern, but seems to have been more precautionary than anything too serious. The best clay-court player in the field, she will likely take some stopping.

As short as 7/2 in places, but as big as 6/1 if you shop around, world number 2 Arnya Sabalenka is next best in most lists. A 6ft powerhouse, Sabalenka is a natural fit for hard surfaces and broke her Grand Slam duck in the Australian Open this year. The Belarussian is, however, far from a one-surface wonder, as evidenced when she beat Swiatek on clay in the final of the Madrid Open. A recent loss to world number 120 Sofia Kenin is a small concern, but will likely prove to be little more than a blip for one of the most athletic players in the game.

Kazakhstan ace Elena Rybakina (8/1) is the only other player available at a single-figure price, as she bids to add a second Slam to her haul following her famous 2022 success at Wimbledon. Already coming close to doubling her tally when losing out to Sabalenka in the Australian Open final, she arrives on a high, having picked up the Italian Open title – albeit aided by a Swiatek withdrawal and a walkover in the final. Of the big three, she probably has the most questions to answer, but seems likely to at least improve on her previous best effort here when making the quarters in 2021.

Outsiders

Currently ranked 13th in the world, Barbora Krejcikova (20/1) is behind both Sabalenka and Rybakina but, unlike that duo, is thoroughly proven at this venue, having lifted the title in 2021. That shock success is the clear highlight in the career of the 27-year-old, but she showed she still has what it takes when beating Swiatek in the Dubai Duty-Free final earlier in the season. Her form since hasn’t been anything like so good, but if finding her A-game she could go well.

Of the up-and-coming youngsters in the field, one player to catch the eye at a big price is 20-year-old Chinese number 1, Qinwen Zheng (90/1). Now up to 19 in the rankings following a solid start to her career, she warmed up for this with a run to the quarter finals in Rome. It is, however, her performance here 12 months ago which potentially makes her of interest. Whilst no other player could get near Swiatek, Zheng did at least take a set off the eventual champ before being blown away in the final two sets. With that experience of the big stage under her belt, she could be one to watch.

Of the others, 2017 winner, Jelena Ostapenko (25/1) suggested she may be ready to contend in the slams once more with a quarter finals effort in Australia, and has been largely solid since. And don’t discount 19-year-old American, Coco Gauff (33/1), who hasn’t been in top form of late, but is still ranked sixth in the world and made the final here 12 months ago.

Predictions & Tips

Should Iga Swiatek display any chinks in the armour, there are players ready and waiting to capitalise – notably Arnya Sabalenka, who looks particularly dangerous on the back of that Australian Open success. The problem is, there are very rarely any chinks to be found in the world number one. Boasting a 42-4 record on clay over the past four years, she’s 18-1 at the French Open. Comfortably too good for the field in 2022, the most likely result is that she repeats the trick here.

As with the men’s event, a small each-way play on one of the bigger-priced outsiders is also advised, with Chinese youngster Qinwen Zheng the one to get the vote. Having idolised 2011 winner La Ni in her youth, Zheng likely has this event high up on her list of priorities and showed enough in 2022 to suggest she may one day follow in her heroine's footsteps.

Betting Tip – Iga Swiatek to win at 8/11

Each Way Tip – Qinwen Zheng at 90/1

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Schedule

• Qualifying – Monday 20th to Friday 24th May 2024
• 1st Round – Sunday 26th to Tuesday 28th May 2024
• 2nd Round – Wednesday 29th & Thursday 30th May 2024
• 3rd Round – Friday 31st May & Saturday 1st June 2024
• 4th Round – Sunday 2nd & Monday 3rd June 2024
• Quarter Finals – Tuesday 4th & Wednesday 5th June 2024
• Semi Finals – Thursday 6th & Friday 7th June 2024
• Women’s Final – Saturday 8th June 2024
• Men’s Final – Sunday 9th June 2024

Schedule is subject to change.

About The French Open

The tournament takes place at Roland-Garros in Paris, France. It’s one of the most iconic tennis venues in the world and is steeped in tradition. The biggest difference between the French Open and the other three majors is that it’s the only one that is played on clay.

Due to the speed of clay being much slower than the hard and grass tennis courts from other events, the French Open is regarded as one of the hardest to win as the rallies can be much longer.

Also, the final set is without a tiebreaker and the need for a winner to win by two clear games can often send the length of each match skyrocketing. As a result of this, Roland-Garros is the only major venue that will allow for an extra day if needed, purely down to the potential length of each match.

The Early Versions of the Competition

The Championnats Internationaux de France de Tennis began life in 1891 and at the time was only open to players who were members of French tennis clubs. If the idea behind that rule was to make it a competition that would be easier for French players to win. The organisers won’t have been pleased when a Briton named H. Briggs won the inaugural tournament, he was a resident in Paris and therefore allowed to enter.

It wasn’t until six years later that women were invited to play in the competition, with just four applying to do so. Though the men’s game had Doubles matches almost immediately, the Women’s Doubles didn’t start until 1907, five years after Mixed Doubles were played for the first time.

It wasn’t the only set of changes that took place to the competition in its more formative years, with the tournament not even settled at Roland-Garros until 1928. Prior to that it had taken place at Île de Puteaux, The Racing Club de France, Bordeaux’s Société Athlétique de la Villa Primrose and the Tennis Club de Paris.

The World Hard Court Championships

Though the French Open’s history can be traced back to 1891, there was another tournament that was considered by many to be a true precursor to it. The World Hard Court Championships was played at the Stade Français in the Parisian suburb of Saint-Cloud from 1912 and was open to international competitors at a time when the Championnats Internationaux was still restricted to members of French clubs.

The Championship was suspended for the First World War but resumed in 1920, continuing to take place until 1923 (though the 1922 edition was held in the Belgian city of Brussels). New Zealand’s Tony Wilding and the American Bill Tilden both won the competition and were each World Number One when they did so. The Hard Court Championships didn’t take place in 1924 as the Olympic Games were hosted by Paris and tennis was one of the disciplines.

In 1925 it was decided that the French Championships should be opened up to amateurs from around the world and, perhaps as a consequence, the International Lawn Tennis Federation designated it as a Major championship for the first time. In 1925 and 1927 the event took place at the Stade Français where the previous Hard Court Championship had taken place, moving briefly to Racing Club de France in the intervening year. On both occasions the court used was clay, which would later become the norm for the French Open.

The Move to Roland-Garros in 1928

In 1927 four French players, René Lacoste, Jean Borotra, Henri Cochet, and Jacques Brugnon, earned themselves the nickname of the ‘Mousquetaires’ when they won the David Cup in America. The French tennis authorities decided that they would defend the trophy on home soil and would build a new tennis stadium to honour this at Porte d’Auteuil. The Stade de France offered three hectares of land on which this new venue could be built but they attached an unusual rule to the deal; the tennis authorities could only have the land on the condition that they named the new stadium after a French World War One pilot named Roland Garros.

As we now know, of course, the Fédération Française de Tennis agreed, and the venue has boasted the name ever since. Owing to the rules of the French language, any time a building or location is named after a person the two words are hyphenated, which is why it is referred to as Roland-Garros rather than Roland Garros. The David Cup was indeed played there in 1928 and the French Internationals, as the tournament was known back then, moved there in the same year and has never left.

The French Internationals were still held during the Second World War, but the tournaments, played from 1941 through to 1945, aren’t considered to be official by the governing body of the country’s tennis governing body. When they resumed officially after the end of the war they took place after Wimbledon, making it the third of the Grand Slams in the calendar year. Nowadays, however, it’s played between May and June and is the second of the Grand Slams after the Australian Open.

The Prix Orange, Prix Citron and Prix Bourgeon

In 1981, tournament organisers introduced new prizes other than just the ones for winning the various disciplines. A player that is cooperative with the press and demonstrates sportsmanship during the event is awarded the Prix Orange, whilst one who displays a strong character and personality gets the Prix Citron.

There’s also a Prix Bourgeon for the biggest revelation of the year. It all adds to the uniqueness of the French Open, which invited both amateurs and professionals to take part in it in 1968 and became the first of the Grand Slams to be ‘open’ in such a manner.

Other Idiosyncrasies

As mentioned, there are certain factors about the French Open that make it unique in the world of Grand Slam tennis tournaments. The awards given out to players for things other than winning the various tennis competitions are part of that, but there’s much more besides. For example, in 2006 it was decided that the Open should begin on a Sunday, with twelve Singles matches played on the three main courts of Roland-Garros. It’s the only Major to start on the weekend at the time of writing.

There’s also the Benny Berthet Exhibition Day, which which takes place on the eve of the tournament getting underway. The overall yield from that go to various charitable associations. Though not a unique move in the world of tennis tournaments, the French Open decided to pay equal prize money to both the Men and Women who take part in the competition. That has been the case since 2007.

A Look at Stade Roland-Garros

We know that Stade Roland-Garros was built in 1928, but what else is there to learn about the home of the French Open? The twenty one acre complex has twenty courts within its boundaries, to say nothing of a large restaurant and bar complex named Les Jardins de Roland Garros. France’s National Training Centre is also located here, as is a bilingual multimedia museum called the Tenniseum.

Roland Garros might have been a pilot in World War One, but he’s famous for so much more than that. He was also the aviator who flew the first solo flight across the Mediterranean Sea and invented the first machine gun that was able to fire forward from an aircraft. He shot down four enemy airplanes in the war before being shot down himself in 1918.

The Clay Playing Surface

The reference to the Roland-Garros courts as being ‘clay’ does a slight disservice to them. In actual fact they are made up of a base layer of white limestone on top of about six inches of volcanic rock. On top of the limestone is a couple of millimetres of red brick dust, which gives it its red brick appearance. The brick is crushed and drenched in water, with the process taking place several times until every court is coated with a compact layer that shows footprints and ball marks but doesn’t make the court slippery or spongey.

When tournaments are underway at Rolland-Garros the playing surface is smoothed out both before matches and in between sets by workers dragging chain-link across it. When that tournament is the French Open, the court surface is replenished on a daily basis, whilst over the rest of the year it’s dealt with as and when necessary. When the courts were first used upon the venue’s opening they were state-of-the-art. Previously clay courts had suffered drainage issues, but the combination of limestone and crushed brick removed that problem.

The Courts

The centrepiece of Roland-Garros is the Court Philippe Chatrier, which opened when the stadium did and boasts seats for just shy off fifteen thousand spectators. It used to be known as the Court Central, but it took on the name of the former President of the Fédération Française de Tennis in 2001. The secondary court was known as Court A when it opened 1994, but it was renamed as Court Suzanne Lenglen in honour of a Women’s game superstar who won 31 Majors between 1914 and 1925.

The last court worthy of a mention is Court 1, often referred to as the ‘Bullring’. That’s on account of its circular shape and the architect, a former junior champion tennis player named Jean Lovera, deliberately designed it to make it contrast with the more angular personality of the Court Philippe Chatrier. Fans of the game love it because it allows them to feel close to the action and the round nature of the design means that practically all of the seats have an excellent view. There are another seventeen courts on the outskirts of the main three, but these are the ones that you’ll most closely associate with the tournament in its pomp.

Expansion Plans

The Fédération Française de Tennis announced in 2009 that a French architect named Marc Mimram had been commissioned to design a large expansion to Roland-Garros. This was largely in response to calls to move the French Open to a new venue outside of Paris, as well as plans to build a new court with a roof. Two years after those plans were announced, the FFT confirmed that it had decided to keep the tournament at Roland-Garros but to expand the venue as a whole in order to avoid the possibility of losing its Grand Slam status to Madrid.

The various expansion plans, which included the possibility of building a new stadium below ground level, encouraged numerous obstacles over the years that followed, resulting in work being delayed. As well as problems faced with the plans, the FFT also underwent legal challenges over what they were hoping to do, with the last of these resolved in 2017. Work then continued with the new look court at Porte d’Auteuil ready for 2019 and a rebuilt Court Philippe Chatrier opened for the 2020 French Open.

French Open Format

The tournament is actually split up into a number of disciplines including Men’s Singles, Women’s Singles, Men’s Doubles, Women’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles. Qualification for each does vary but essentially players will either need to reach a certain world ranking, have won a tournament on tour throughout that current year, be a former major winner or have been successful in one of the qualifying tournaments leading up to the event.

The tournament proper goes straight into a knockout stage, with sixty-four participants for both the Men’s and Women’s Singles games. From there they work their way though the knockout stage before the winner is crowned in the Final. The Doubles games will see thirty-two pairings for each discipline and again they go straight into a knockout stage.

French Open Prize Money and Ranking Points (2023)

Interesting Facts

Rafael Nadal is the most successful Men’s player at the French Open, winning the event no fewer than fourteen times. To put that into context, the next best is Max Decugis with eight, with the next most successful open era player, Bjorn Borg back on six wins before then dropping to three others with 3 wins a piece. It’s argued that this is a record that will never be beaten and, as Nadal is still playing, could well be extended.

Chris Evert is the most successful French Open player on the Women’s side winning the tournament seven times throughout her career. A number of players have threatened to match her record in modern times including Steffi Graff and Justine Henin, but ultimately failed. Serena Williams was the latest player to attempt to catch her, although she could only claim three titles.

There are other interesting facts around the tournament, of course, with the following being the most noteworthy:

• As well as being the most successful male player of both the professional and amateur era, Rafa Nadal has also won more consecutive titles than anyone else with five
• The most successful player of any era across all disciplines is Max Decugis, who managed twenty-nine wins from 1902 to 1920
• Two women, Jeanne Matthey and Suzanne Lenglen, won four consecutive titles in the Amateur era, whilst two others, Monica Seles and Justine Henin, won three in the open era
• Suzanne Lenglen is the most successful woman of any era with fifteen wins across all disciplines
• The youngest Men’s Single title winner, Michael Chang, was seventeen years and three months on when he won
• The youngest Women’s Single winner, Monica Seles, was sixteen years and six months old when she was victorious
• The oldest Male winner, Andre Vacherot, was forty years and nine months old
• The oldest Women’s title winner, Zsuzsa Körmöczy, was thirty years and ten months when she won
• There have been four unseeded winners of the Men’s Singles and two unseeded winners of the Women’s title