French Open Tennis: Alcaraz and Sabalenka to shine on the Roland Garos clay
- James M Buttler
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
SkySports tennis commentator James Buttler picks his winners and best outside tips for the French Open tennis, which gets underway on Sunday in Paris. There are two firm favourites in the Men’s and Women’s Singles.
Men's Winner
On the Men’s side, Carlos Alcaraz is the defending champion and clay is his best surface. He’s won in Monte Carlo, Madrid and Rome, He beat the second seed Jannik Sinner in the Italian capital. You can’t discount Sinner or Novak Djokovic, but on the red clay in Paris Carlos Alcaraz will take some beating. He may only be a best price of 6/4, but I think it’s worth taking.
Women's Winner
In the Women’s draw, Aryna Sabalenka, by some distance the world number one is almost as short at 5/2. In current form I prefer her to Iga Swiatek at 3/1 and I know it’s not particularly exciting to take the favourites, but in this case, they are favourites for a reason.
You can double up Alcaraz and Sabalenka to lift their respective trophies in Paris at a more appealing 8/1.
French Open Outside Picks
Longer prices? Jasmine Paoilini won in Rome last week and at 14/1 she might be worth a tickle. Also, I was commentating on the recent WTA events in Rome and Rabat and was impressed by Eva Lys and Maya Joint – both 1000/1 shots for the trophy. Silverware may be a bit fanciful, but winning their respective quarters could give you a good run for your money.
Finally, not so much an outsider as a rising British star. Jack Draper is now no.5 in the men’s rankings and he’s a dark horse on clay after reaching the final in Madrid. An e/w play on Draper at 33/1 could be a really good bet in Paris.
I’ll also be backing Draper at Wimbledon where he’s currently 10/1 and his game suits the grass at SW19.
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