There is a great French Open Tennis betting promotion to be taken at popular online bookmaker Paddy Power. The bookie is offering some match coverage for the second Grand Slam of the season, the French Open, hosted at Roland Garros. Will all of the big stars be able to safely negotiate their way through the first week? Who will you be backing through the rounds? Well, if you back a player in match betting for the men’s draw, and your selection loses in the fifth set of the match, then Paddy Power will refund your lost stake as a free bet. This applies to all pre-match bets placed on a match at the French Open and the coverage on the bet is a wonderful £100. So you can bet with some insurance on your match betting, that if your selection loses in the fifth set, then you will get your lost stake refunded. The highly rated Paddy Power offer a free £50 bet for new customers opening an account with them. The bookie will match the value of your first stake on a new account with a free bet!
This coverage from Paddy Power could prove to be extremely valuable come the latter stages, as the big four will all be gunning hard for semi final spots. It is still early days in the French Open tennis betting, and still some decent value around. As expected, the main four of Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray will be the favourites and anyone outside of those who pops up and wins, is really going to be doing it against all the odds. For someone to come from the outside and win this Grand Slam, it is going to take, most likely, victories over two of the top four players in the world and that is just incredibly unlikely. So what are the big options for your 2012 French Open Tennis betting? Here we profile the chances of the world’s top four.
Novak Djokovic 11/4 at Paddy Power
The Djoker has racked up the last three Grand Slam titles, and now goes for his fourth consecutive. He started off the year with a bang after lifting the Australian Open, however the gap which was between him and Rafael Nadal last season has definitely been closed. The win at Melbourne Park has been backed up with just one other title this season, a final victory over Andy Murray at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 in Miami. Surprisingly, after dominating so greatly last season, Djokovic has been beaten five times this season in a 30-5 match record, and perhaps importantly, he has suffered back to back defeats in clay court finals against Rafael Nadal Djokovic beat Nadal in the final of the Australian Open, but the Spaniard has hit back, beating the Serbian in Monte Carlo and Rome. Djokovic hasn’t been as prolific but should be in the semi finals at least, and realistically should be second favourite to Rafael Nadal.
Draw: Could face a tricky quarter final against home talent Jo Wilfried Tsonga, then would probably face Federer in the semi’s. It would either be Nadal or Murray most likely in the final then.
Rafael Nadal 8/13 at Paddy Power
The Spaniard is still the King of Clay and since his loss at the start of the year to Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open, it wasn’t until the clay court swing of the season came around, that he burst back into life. It looked as if, just like last year, Nadal was going to be second best to Novak Djokovic this season. However, Nadal has looked sharp since stepping back onto clay, winning three of the last four he has entered (the exception being his round of 16 defeat on the heavily criticized new blue clay in Madrid). So he is the man of the moment on clay, and two of those three wins have come at the expense of Djokovic. Nadal is the defending Champion at Roland Garros and is favourite with his 16-1 match record on the surface this season. If he can lift the title again here this season, it will be for a record breaking seventh time. Nadal beat Roger Federer in the final of last season’s French Open. This is clay more than a strong possibility that the master will add to his clay titles. Remarkably, Nadal has a 45-1 match record at the French Open.
Draw: Nadal has the easiest quarter, with only 8th seed Janko Tipsarevic to worry about. Projected semi finalists would be Andy Murray or David Ferrer, then Federer/Djokovic for the final.
Roger Federer 7/1 at Paddy Power
It has been a resurgent season from Roger Federer, having earning four titles already this year. While others were faltering on the blue clay in Madrid, Federer battled his way to the title there, his most recent triumph. Federer has a 31-4 match record for the season, but lost to Novak Djokovic in the semi final of Rome recently. He has also lost to Nadal this season, in the semi finals of the Australian Open. But in general, Federer has looked right on top of his game this season and looks full of hunger. He hasn’t won a Grand Slam title since 2010 though, and he is naturally suited better to the US Open later in the year. Then again, Federer really excelled at Roland Garros last season and he will have drawn a lot of confidence from that. The Swiss superstar is aiming for his 17 Grand Slam title but for all of his career glory, has only won the French Open once, in 2009. He has come runner up on four other occasions.
Draw: Should be able to have a good run at the semi’s. Has 7th seed Tomas Berdych as a projected quarter final opponent, then it would be Djokovic in the semi’s.
Andy Murray 40/1 at Paddy Power
The Scot is still not showing any signs of being anything other than the outside shot of the big four to be honest. Murray has a 14-5 career record at Roland Garros, which isn’t great when stacked up against the other main guys here. Murray started the season off with a title win in Brisbane, and then reached the semi finals of the Australian Open where he lost in an epic match against Novak Djokovic which went to the wire. Murray has been in two finals since then, losing both of them, one against Federer and one against Djokovic. He is at his weakest on clay, and that has been reflected in his failure to make it to the semi finals in his three clay court tournaments this season, and was ousted by Richard Gasquet in the round of 16 in Rome most recently. He went well here last year, but is just not showing the kind of form that will take down a couple of other top four guys on his way to glory. Murray has just a 22-7 match record for the entire season and is being rolled over quite easily at the moment.
Draw: A lot of work to do, would meet clay court specialist David Ferrer in the quarter, then Nadal it the semi’s and then Djokovic/Federer in the final.
2012 French Open Tennis Betting Odds at Paddy Power
Rafael Nadal 8/13, Novak Djokovic 11/4, Roger Federer 7/1, Tomas Berdych 30/1, Juan Martin Del Potro 35/1, David Ferrer 40/1, Andy Murray 40/1
