2018 Roland-Garros Betting Preview

When we think of the favorites at Roland-Garros each year, on the men’s side we naturally think of Rafael Nadal, who is aiming for his 11th title in Paris, and who has dominated the clay courts so far this season. On the women’s side, Serena Williams returns as the favorite, but her form has not been as dominant this year, so there are a number of other contenders who could take home the winner’s trophy. Take a look at our tennis betting  insights into the men’s and women’s draws this year.

2018 Roland-Garros Betting Preview

Rafa Nadal beats Simone Bolelli 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 to get his #FrenchOpen defence up and running.

The King of Clay hasn’t dropped a set in the opening round of #rolandgarros since 2013! pic.twitter.com/mftVPJa1PS — Coral (@Coral) May 29, 2018

Men

Rafael Nadal (-250 to win)

Nadal enters Roland-Garros with a 79-2 record in his matches here. His game may be falling off to a small degree, thanks to the fact that he is 31, and he did lose at Madrid in the quarterfinals to Dominic Thiem. However, that was his lone loss on clay this season, as he has gone 19-1, and he has won the championship hardware in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Rome. One could explain the setback in Madrid as resulting from the higher elevation, and Madrid’s format is best-of-three sets instead of five, where Nadal is much more difficult to defeat.

Novak Djokovic (+1100)

Djokovic made a run of 12 Grand Slam titles over eight years, between 2008 and 2016. However, injuries in 2017 saw him slide down the rankings, which is why he comes into Roland-Garros holding just the #20 seed. He is opposite the draw from Nadal, which means he wouldn’t see him until a potential matchup in the finals. He also would not see such contenders as Thiem, Stan Wawrinka, Alexander Zverev or Kei Nishikori until the semis. Djokovic won at Roland-Garros in 2016 and has a lifetime record of 26-25 against Nadal. So this is an underdog with some real value in those high odds.

David Goffin (+2500)

Looking for a dark horse to add some value to your wagers? Goffin has a relatively friendly bracket in the early going and would see Djokovic if they both made it to the quarterfinals. Goffin made it to the semis at Barcelona and the quarterfinals in Monte Carlo and Rome. That sort of performance should give him confidence on the biggest clay court stage of all — but can he get past the dominant names on this surface?

Women

Simona Halep (+500)

Simona Halep has been the top-ranked player in the world for 30 different weeks over the past few years, and she enters with that ranking for this tournament. She has made it to the finals in three majors, including twice right here, losing to Maria Sharapova in 2014 and then again last year, despite leading Jelena Ostapenko by a set and by three games in the second set before falling off the table. She made it to the final of the Australian Open this year but lost to Caroline Wozniacki. She made it to the finals in Rome before losing too — could this be her breakthrough? She certainly seems due.

Petra Kvitova (+1200)

Kvitova made her professional comeback at Roland-Garros last year, after she was stabbed with a knife in a home invasion in December 2016. Since then, she has surged to eighth in the world, and she won clay court championships in Madrid and Prague, as well as trophies at St. Petersburg and Doha on hard surfaces. She is on the other side of the draw from Halep as well as Serena Williams and Garbine Muguruza.

Angelique Kerber (+2200)

Kerber has made the final of the three other tennis majors and has titles at the U.S. Open and the Australian Open. However, clay has bedeviled her thus far, as she has made it no farther than the quarterfinals in 2012. She has gone just 4-4 on clay so far this season, but she had a breakthrough of sorts in Rome, advancing to the quarterfinals and losing to Elina Svitolina, who would win the whole thing. Svitolina has +600 odds herself at Roland-Garros.