On Sunday, May 28, the 2023 French Open will begin, running for two weeks. Of the four Grand Slam events, it is the only one held on clay. The bracket requires the winner to survive seven matches, and because clay is a surface that leads to longer matches, with its slower pace and higher bounce for the ball, this is commonly considered the toughest tennis tournament in the world on the basis of physical demand. The defending singles champions are Rafael Nadal and Iga Swiatek; Nadal also holds the record for men’s singles titles overall, with 14, while the women’s record still belongs to Chris Evert, with seven. With over four months to go, let’s take a look at some French Open betting thoughts for the men’s singles draw in tennis’ second major of 2023.
Tennis News: 2023 French Open Betting Preview
Novak Djokovic is favored to win in all four of the Grand Slams of 2023, but he is more heavily favored at the Australian Open and Wimbledon than he is at the French Open. Even so, Djokovic has made the quarterfinals or better each year since 2010, although his winning percentage (84%) at Roland Garros is the worst among the four majors. He also went five years between French Open titles (2016-2021), the longest gap between Grand Slam wins for any tournament in his career.
Carlos Alcaraz won his first Grand Slam in 2022, breaking through at the U.S. Open. For this reason, he sits near the top of most odds boards for the four Grand Slams for this season. However, Alcaraz has less experience than any of the other betting favorites. At the French Open, he went to the third round in his first appearance and then made the quarterfinals last year. There’s a long path to travel between the last eight and holding the title.
Rafael Nadal has won five more titles at Roland Garros than any other player has won at any other Grand Slam event. He has won five of the last six French Open titles, although it took almost a daily cortisone shot into his injured foot to get him through the bracket last time. He comes in this time at the age of 36, and this (combined with his injury history) is one reason why you will find more value wagering on him than you might have thought.
Stefanos Tsitsipas has made the fourth round at the French Open in four consecutive years; in 2021, he made it all the way to the final before falling to Djokovic. He is also available with some value, although his track record at Roland Garros makes him a darker horse than some of the other top contenders.
If you really want some value attached to potential, consider Casper Ruud. He made it to the final at Roland Garros last year and also made it to the last day at the U.S. Open. If he has a similar run at the Australian Open, his value will likely shrink, so if you are bullish on Ruud after his French Open run last year, I’d get those bets in sooner than later.
Alexander Zverev made it to the semifinals of the French Open last year before suffering an ankle injury. We don’t know his recovery timeline right now, so I wouldn’t put a lot of money down on him, given the nature of ankle injuries, especially with the tricky nature of playing on clay.
Holger Rune is a definite dark horse, but he also comes with a lot of range among the odds lists. He made the quarterfinals in 2022, making his French Open debut. He lost to Ruud in four sets, and I wouldn’t put a lot of money on him until we see his Australian Open result as well as one or two of the clay season warmup events.
French Open Tennis Betting Odds
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