Kicking off the summer of sport is the 2017 French Open at Roland Garros in Paris. The two week event is a a unique jewel in the Grand Slam calendar for the fact that it is the only major tournament to be played on clay surface. If you know anything about tennis, then you will be aware that this means much more than dirty tennis shoes.
This year’s tournament is shaping up to be a very interesting proposition indeed, both from a tennis fan’s point of view and from a punter’s perspective. On the men’s side of the tournament, we will hopefully be treated some titanic tennis with the continued resurgence of Rafael Nadal – one of the greatest clay court players of all time. However, the Spaniard will face some tough competition from higher ranked players and a couple of young up–starts. As for the women’s tournament, the draw has been blown wide open after it was revealed that Serena Williams will miss the competition.
So, where does the smart money lie? What do you need to consider before placing a bet? And is there more to tennis betting than just the win-lose markets?
There’s Nothing like Roland Garros
One of the keys to being successful at tennis betting is knowing how the surface might affect the outcome of a match. If you’re knowledge of tennis doesn’t extend any further than Centre Court of Wimbledon, do not fret. Here are some of the most important things you need to know when betting on clay court tennis at the French Open.
– Slow courts: the most important factor of clay court tennis is that the speed of play is significantly slower than on grass courts and composite hard courts. With higher bounces, players are forced back beyond the baseline to give them extra time to wind up the next shot. As such, the surface is ideal for players who can generate plenty of spin on big ground-strokes since this can force their opponent even further into a defensive position.
– Physically demanding: it’s easy to think that “slow” courts means less demand on the body, but that is far from the case at the French Open. In fact, Roland Garros is often cited as being the most physically challenging Grand Slam and it makes sense when you think about it. The slow pace of the play means that it is more difficult to hit un-returnable winners, meaning that rallies last longer and it is often a case of who makes the first mistake in the battle of attrition.
– Flair and finesse: while successful clay court tennis players rely of powerful ground-strokes and buckets full of stamina, it also requires a touch of flair and finesse. The loose shale surface at the French Open (most modern clay courts aren’t technically made from clay) means that players have to slide into shots. This calls for incredible balance and timing, which is why powerhouses (like Andy Murray) find it difficult to compete in the later stages.
– Less advantage for big servers: with so much emphasis on crafting rallies and breaking down opponents, big serve players have less of an advantage on clay. As an example, consider the fact that Andy Roddick held the record for fastest serve at the French Open from 2006 to 2010 but never made it past the fourth round.
– Always check the weather: just in case there wasn’t enough to think about when betting on the 2017 French Open, you’ll also need to take into account how the weather affects the condition of the clay courts. On a hot and dry day, balls will travel faster, spin more and bounce higher. However, on an overcast and humid day, the moisture in the ball and court will make it difficult for players like Rafael Nadal to utilise his topspin to the maximum effect.
The Odds
Now that you know everything there is to know about the courts at Roland Garros, what are the best bets for the French Open 2017? Let’s have a look at the favourites, the strong contenders and a couple of outsiders in both the men’s and women’s side of the draw.
Mens French Open Winner Odds 2017
- Rafael Nadal – 11/8
- Novak Djokovic – 9/2
- Andy Murray – 13/2
- Stan Wawrinka – 10/1
- Roger Federer -15/1
- Dominic Thiem – 18/1
Fancy having a bet? Take a look at our list of the best online Bookmakers in the UK and Europe.
Rafa Nadal is by far and away the favourite to win the Grand Slam, having return to a strong vein of form after a few years of injuries. Not only is Nadal looking in tournament winning condition again, but this is very much his major on the ATP World Tour; the Spaniard has a record of nine French Open titles to his name. The fact of the matter is that Nadal has the athleticism, stamina and a lethal top spin on the forehand that is perfect for the surface. But can anyone contend threaten the clay court maestro in the later stages of the competition?
The odds would suggest that the closest contenders are Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic, as you might suspect being placed as number 1 and 2 respectively in the ATP rankings. These elite players don’t necessarily have the right playing style for clay court but they have shown that they can adapt to the surface in more recent years. However, both Murray and Djokovic have had some poor runs of form in 2017 – the latter recently made the drastic decision to sack his long-term coach.
It’s not often you hear this, but there is every reason to believe that the smart money lies in the longer odds when it comes to betting on the French Open men’s winner this year. In fact, there are some very enticing odds for Roger Federer at 15/1 who proved that he is far from ready to go out to pasture when he won this year’s Australian Open. However, there are doubts about Federer’s fitness after on-going speculation about whether he would even play at the Grand Slam. A bet on Federer’s compatriot, Stan Wawrinka, at 10/1 isn’t bad either but – like some of the other top ranked players – the Swiss is not in his best run of form.
One of the dark horses of the 2017 French Open could be the young Austrian, Dominic Thiem. At 18/1, Thiem leads the rest of the field after the usual contenders and has been making a reputation for himself as a strong clay-court player. Thiem even made it to the semi-finals of the 2016 Roland Garros Grand Slam and he has beaten Rafael Nadal on clay before – can he go all the way this year?
Women’s French Open Winner Odds 2017
Many tennis betting experts will tell you that the real gold-mine is found on the women’s side of the tour. Simply put, the women’s game is a much more open affair, with more upsets when it comes to match results as well as greater variance in the pattern of play due to slower serves and more emphasis on tactics over pure power.
This year’s French Open is set to be even more unpredictable due to the absence of Serena Williams who revealed her pregnancy one month prior to the start of the competition. As such, we are left with two favourites in Maria Sharapova and Simona Halep (both 13/2), the former of whom beat the latter in the final of the French Open in 2014. Hot on the heels of those two are Angelique Kerber and Garbiñe Muguruza (both 12/1) with Elina Svitolina (18/1) and Karolina pliskova (20/1) as the outside favourites.
If you fancy taking a long-shot bet on the 2017 French Open, then you could back some previous grand slam finalists such as Svetlana Kuznetsova (28/1), Caroline Wozniacki (33/1), Petra Kvitova (33/1), Agnieszka Radwanska (40/1) and Venus Williams (66/1).
