This year’s French Open tennis championships at Roland Garros has been one packed with drama and surprise, with seeds tumbling like flies in the early rounds, especially in the women’s tournament.
However, as we reach the semifinal stage of the competition in both the men’s and women’s events, it is two familiar names that dominate the betting for both events now as both seek to land another French Open title.
In the women’s tournament, the massively in form Iga Swiatek will attempt to land her second French Open title in her career, while Rafael Nadal in the men’s tournament could win an incredible, and record-breaking, 14th French Open title and 22nd Grand Slam tournament.
Bet365 Sport has been offering a massive range of pre-match and In Play betting on the tournament since it began and that will continue over the next few days as the eventual winner of both men’s and women’s events are crowned.
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Let’s now take a look at how both the women’s and men’s tournament progressed over the last couple of weeks to leave us in the situation that we now see in both events.
French Open – Women’s Tournament
After a brutal opening trio of rounds, which saw many of the women;s top 32 seeds tumble out of the tournament, there were still 11 seeds remaining in the tournament heading into the second week of action.
First through to the semifinals were American Cori Gauff, who defeated Sloane Stephens 7-5, 6-2 and then unseeded Martina Trevisan defeated US Open finalist Leylah Annie Fernandez 6-2, 6-7, 6-3 to claim the second semi final spot.
However, moving through the draw untroubled for most of the games was top seed Iga Swiatek, with the Polish world number one’s incredible form continuing with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Jessica Pegula.
She was joined in the semifinals by Daria Kasatkina, who defeated Veronika Kudermetova 6-4, 7-6 to earn the fourth and final semi spot.
Swiatek and Kasatkina will play the first semi final today (starting at 2pm British time) and they will be followed by Trevisan and Gauff in the second semi, both on Court Philippe-Chartier.
Swiatek is a massive 1/10 to win her semifinal, with Kasatkina the 6/1 underdog. The other semi final sees Cori Gauff the 1/3 favourite, with the unseeded Martina Trevisan a 12/5 shot to reach the final.
When it comes to the outright winner of the event, Swiatek is the 1/4 odds on favourite to land the victory ahead of Cori Gauff at 15/4, with Kasatkina a 14/1 chance and Martina Trevisan the rank outsider at 25/1.
Why Is Swiatek Such An Overwhelming Favourite To Win?
It is fair to say that we are seeing a period of dominance in women’s tennis that we have not seen in many years. Iga Swiatek has won all of her last five tournaments and is unbeaten in well over 30 games.
Those wins have come on clay and hard court and at the moment, she is playing at a level that no woman can match.
Swiatek also won her only Grand Slam at Roland Garros back in 2020, so she knows what is required in order to land victory on these famous clay courts.
That incredible form has seen Swiatek climb to number 1 in the world rankings and at the moment, there doesn’t seem to be anybody that can genuinely trouble her.
The task facing Kasatkina in her semifinal is huge and as such, it is genuinely difficult to see anybody taking a set of Swiatek in the remainder of the tournament, let alone managing to land two in order to beat her.
She was the smart pick for punters ahead of the start of the tournament and she has lived up to those expectations in the tournament so far and it is hard to see her messing things up now.
Women’s French Open Winner Prediction – Iga Swiatek to beat Cori Goff 6-4. 6-3.
French Open Men’s Tournament
For once, the betting in the men’s tournament was far more open than in the women’s. Sure Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic featured heavily in the pre-tournament betting, but so did the new Spanish sensation Carlos Alcaraz, who was tearing through the rankings after landing some huge victories in recent tournaments.
It was no surprise therefore that Nadal, Djokovic and Alcaraz made the quarter final after navigating some tricky opponents on their way into the last eight.
There they were joined by third seed Alex Zverev who would take on Alcaraz, while Nadal would face his old rival Novak Djokovic in another quarterfinal tie and one that would be good enough to grace the final.
The other half of the draw was more surprising with Casper Ruud and Holger Rune contesting the third quarterfinal and Marin Cilic and Andrey Rublev competing in the fourth.
Cilic’s big hitting saw him come through a gruelling five-set game with Rublev, and Ruud got the better of his unseeded opponent.
However, there was a huge shock in the previous days semis when Alex Zverev landed a 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 win over Alcaraz to move into the semifinal. There he would play Rafael Nadal who rolled back the years to produce a masterclass on clay to defeat Novak Djokovic 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 in a game that finished past 1am in the morning in Paris.
Nadal’s Tournament To Lose?
While he may not be the overpowering force that he once was on clay, it is abundantly clear that Nadal still remains the king of the court on the surface, even if Alcaraz is now starting to claw back that gap.
However, with Djokovic beaten and Alcaraz out of his side of the draw, Nadal will face third seed Zverev knowing he has won six of the nine games between the two and he has lost just once on clay, in Madrid earlier in 2021, a defeat which he avenged in Rome just a short time later.
If Nadal reaches the final then he will be confident of beating Ruud or Cilic in that match up and that explains why the Spaniard is now 1/2 to win the title, with Zverev 15/4, Ruud 11/2 and Cilic 12/1.
The Spaniard is also 3/10 to beat Zverev in the first semi final tomorrow, with the German 5/2 to land the win. Ruud is 4/9 to win his semi final against the 7/4 chance Cilic.
Men’s French Open Prediction – Rafael Nadal to beat Casper Ruud – 6-3, 6-4, 6-4
