French Open odds: Leading contenders in the men’s singles
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Preview of the 2021 tournament
The French Open begins on Sunday as Rafael Nadal looks to defend the men’s singles title he won in October in the delayed edition of the clay-court tournament.
This year’s event has only been put back by one week and most of the biggest names in tennis will again descend on Paris hoping to win the second grand slam of the year.
We pick out the leading contenders in the men’s singles and analyse their French Open odds.
Rafael Nadal
Nadal remains the man to beat at Roland Garros and is the odds-on favourite at 5/6 to win his 14th title here.
The Spaniard is 34 but remains as dominant as ever in the French capital and last year’s success was the fourth time he has won the French Open without dropping a set.
He also lifted the Italian Open for a 10th time earlier this month to suggest his form on clay is as good as ever.
Novak Djokovic
Djokovic is officially the best player on the planet and has a substantial lead in the world rankings but he had no answer to Nadal in last year’s final as he was beaten 6-0 6-2 7-5.
The pair met again in the decider at the Italian Open and although Djokovic managed to win a set this time, Nadal still enjoyed a 7-5 1-6 6-3 victory.
He is seen as the biggest threat to Nadal at 7/2 in the outright French Open odds but must find further improvements if he is to come out on top this time and add to his sole title success here in 2016.
Stefanos Tsitsipas
Tsitsipas went agonisingly close to beating Nadal on clay this month when he had match point in the final of the Barcelona Open, only to eventually lose the deciding set 7-5.
He reached the semi-finals last season here before losing to Djokovic and won the Monte Carlo Masters last month so there are signs he can challenge the top players.
Still only 22, there should still be more to come from the Greek who is 6/1 to win his first grand slam title.
Dominic Thiem
Thiem is on a poor run of form and his French Open odds have drifted as a result, with the Austrian now 9/1 to go one better in Paris having been a beaten finalist in 2018 and 2019.
Last year he won the US Open and reached the final of the Australian Open but he had almost a two-month lay-off after the Dubai Open and has lost three of his seven matches since returning.
Perhaps the biggest surprise was last week’s straight-sets defeat to British number two Cam Norrie at the Lyon Open, where Thiem was the top seed.
Alexander Zverev
Nadal’s short odds mean only four other players are priced at less than 40/1 in the French Open betting and the last of those is 18/1 shot Zverev.
He has enjoyed plenty of previous success on clay, with five of his 14 titles having been won on the red stuff, and the German has consistently reached the latter stages of grand slam events.
The 24-year-old is yet to get past the quarter-finals at the French Open, though, having reached the last eight in 2018 and 2019, so he will need to up his game if he is to go all the way this year.
All odds and markets correct as of date of publication
