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Who are the contenders at the French Open?

| 22.05.2018
SPORTSBOOK ODDS

Odds ahead of the tournament in Paris

Many of the world’s best tennis players will descend on Paris this week for the French Open.

The premier clay court tournament always provides thrills and ahead of the action, the Coral News Team have looked at the contenders for the men’s and women’s titles…

Men’s Draw

The big question heading into this year’s event is, as ever, can anyone stop Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros? He’s the 4/9 favourite to win an 11th French Open title, which would extend his own record.

The Spaniard has an astonishing record of 79 wins and just two losses at this event. The clay surface and five-set matches suit him perfectly.

In the absence of Roger Federer, Alexander Zverev could be his biggest threat. The talented German is 7/1 second-favourite. However, he did lose to Nadal in last weekend’s Italian Open final.

The recently-crowned world number one also beat Novak Djokovic on his way to glory in Rome. Djokovic has endured a tough time since winning the French Open in 2016. But he looked more like his old self in the semi-final loss to Nadal.

The Serbian has beaten the defending champion seven times on clay. He’s an 11/1 outsider but has the talent and experience to beat anyone.

Other than Djokovic, only one active player has beaten Nadal at least three times on clay – 9/1 shot Dominic Thiem. The 24-year-old ended the top seed’s winning run of 50 consecutive sets on clay last month.

Women’s Draw

Unlike the men’s draw, the women’s competition looks relatively open. There are two clear frontrunners, with a number of players who’ll fancy their chances further back.

But the spotlight will be on Serena Williams, who makes her Grand Slam return. If she wins a fourth French title, she’ll equal Margaret Court’s record of 24 major titles.

She’s rated at 12/1, having only played four WTA Tour matches since giving birth to her daughter.

Simona Halep is the 11/2 favourite, with Elina Svitolina just behind at 6/1. Halep has lost two French Open finals and will be determined to go all the way this time. But she did lose the Italian Open final to Svitolina last week.

The most recent of Halep’s final defeats at Roland Garros came last year, when Jelena Ostapenko became the first unseeded woman to win the French Open since 1933. The 20-year-old is 12/1 to defend her title.

Maria Sharapova (11/1), Garbine Muguruza (12/1) and Petra Kvitova (12/1) will also be in the mix in Paris.

All Odds and Markets correct as of date of publication

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Author

Daniel Anwar

Daniel has written about sport for Coral, Squawka, FourFourTwo and the Premier League, among others.