Tennis Betting – Nadal Impossible To Oppose Back At Spiritual Home

It’s not for nothing that the mens’ singles at the French Open is regarded as the toughest of tennis‘ four Grand Slam tournaments to win. Neither Pete Sampras nor Roger Federer, both rightly regarded as the cream of their generation, managed to triumph at Roland Garros, though of course the latter still has the chance to put the record straight. The Swiss superstar has been beaten in three consecutive finals by current world number one Rafael Nadal, however, and one could put forward the argument that Federer‘s powers are slightly on the wane nowadays, though he did beat his great rival in the final of this month’s Madrid Open. That was Nadal‘s first defeat on clay in 34 matches and only the second time Federer had beaten the Spaniard in 10 meetings on the slower surface. It was also Federer‘s first win of 2009 but that result can hardly be taken as face value as Nadal went into that final just hours after a gruelling semi-final with Novak Djokovic – expect the outcome to be reversed in Paris should they both justify their seedings. Unsurprisingly, Nadal is a red-hot favourite to complete the four-timer at Roland Garros with only Paddy Power and William Hill prepared to put their heads a little above the parapet, both firms going 4-11 on the world number one. Federer can be backed at 15-2 with 888sport and Blue Square, while Djokovic is a general 8-1 chance. Andy Murray has improved on clay this year, reaching the semi-finals of the Monte Carlo Open recently. But the British number one still has a way to go before he’s challenging the likes of Nadal and Djokovic on dirt and Betfair‘s 25-1 is unlikely to have many takers. The women’s singles looks more open but there’s no-one coming into the tournament in better form than current world number one Dinara Safina. The 23-year-old Russian eased to victory in last week’s Madrid Open, her fifth final of 2009, to record an 11th career success and her stamina will stand her in good stead on the clay of Roland Garros. With Serena Williams (9-1 with totesport) unlikely to peak before Wimbledon and Ana Ivanovic (16-1 with sportingbet), who beat Safina in last year’s French Open final, struggling for form this time around, Safina might be a decent bet at a general 4-1 to go one better this year.