Sports Reporter | Capper
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The 2024 French Open is set to get underway from Roland Garros in France, with questions abound regarding the top players in the field.
This year's Australian Open champion, Jannik Sinner, has been out of action for a few weeks due to a hip injury while Carlos Alcaraz has joined him on the shelf thanks to an arm issue. The likes of Novak Djokovic and Casper Ruud are in poor form, and Rafael Nadal looks set to make a first-round exit as he plays what's likely his final French Open.
Where does that leave us as we approach the tournament? Let's look at the latest odds on the 2024 French Open on the men's side and break down who might be worth betting on in the futures market as a possible outright winner.
All odds are courtesy of DraftKings. Read our review here.
Djokovic is one of my favorite plays in the 2024 French Open Futures market due to his unusual price. We'd normally have to accept the World No. 1 anywhere from -110 to +150 odds to win a Grand Slam, yet due to a tumultuous season which saw him drop his semifinal match in Australia to Sinner, oddsmakers are incredibly skeptical heading into Paris.
The fact of the matter is Djokovic has won this tournament two out of the last three years and enters as the most reliable option on the board. He's really only fallen victim to Sinner and Alcaraz over the last couple of years at this stage, and with injuries mounting for both young stars they may be knocked out of the tournament before they can meet Djokovic in a potential final.
That's another big reason to believe in Djokovic here -- the draw. He's positioned all alone in the top half while Sinner and Alcaraz sit in the bottom half, and will likely just need to clear Ruud or Alexander Zverev to reach the final.
While I do fancy Zverev's chances given his form, Djokovic has had both of these players' numbers, particularly in Grand Slams.
He hasn't played particularly well over the last month, but both of his recent wins here have come after some shocking defeats during clay season. There's enough reason not to be too concerned.
Zverev is my best bet heading into the French Open. Yes, I did just highlight how Djokovic should be able to reach the final -- where he may even dodge Sinner or Alcaraz -- and Zverev would project to meet him in the quarters here.
I do think the winner of that match should go on to win the tournament, and with how closely Zverev played Djokovic in the US Open semifinals three years ago, which came after Zverev defeated him late in the Olympics, I think the intimidation factor brought on by facing Djokovic won't be all that big.
Zverev has defeated Djokovic six times in 15 matches, if you count World Tennis League, and he's taken four of their last six meetings.
On top of that, he may be the most in-form clay player in the world after his win in Rome and fantastic clay season where he went 10-3.
He's reached the semifinals here in three straight trips, infamously losing to Nadal in 2022 after a gruesome ankle injury and falling at that stage last year as he continued to work his way back to 100%. He's had a great track record at this tournament and a breakthrough could come this year.
If there's a better clay player on tour at the moment than Zverev, it's Tsitsipas. The Greek once again captured the title at Monte Carlo and stands at 13-3 on the dirt this year, and that's included some massive wins over the likes of Sinner, Ruud, Zverev and Karen Khachanov.
Tsitsipas has yet to return to the final after fumbling away his two sets-to-love lead over Djokovic in 2021, but he did have a promising run last year until he met Alcaraz in the quarterfinals. With so many question marks surrounding the top players, Tsitsipas seems to be the guy with the least concerns.
He's not likely to defeat Alcaraz if the Spaniard is in top form, but from all indications he may not be -- particularly since he's hardly played any tennis on clay due to his injury.
It hasn't been the best season on paper for Ruud, who has always dominated the smaller tournaments on the calendar and failed to produce his best tennis at the Masters 1000 level.
With that said, he did take home two titles on the clay leading into Roland Garros and has made the final here in each of the last two seasons. On top of that, the defeats he suffered were at the hands of some very sneakily-good players in Felix Auger-Aliassime and Miomir Kecmanovic.
Those were chalked up as very disappointing losses early in this year's Masters tournaments, but I'm willing to excuse them given the level that was produced on the other end of the court.
It's going to be a tall task to knock out Djokovic in a potential quarterfinal, but if you're buying into the season that the Serbian has had to this point being an indicator of how he might struggle at the French Open, Ruud may be the bet you want to make.
To put a bow on our preview, the names listed above all have a very fair chance of taking home the title this year at Roland Garros. I'm not a fan of backing Alcaraz at his current odds given the fact that he's not only had issues with his arm this year, but has had them over last few years, and the forehand wing is easily the most important part of his game.
Sinner is an interesting option at his price if you're willing to believe what he's said about his hip not being a major concern, but the injury was reported to be quite serious when it happened about a month ago and he's also never been quite as good on clay as he's been on quicker surfaces.
That leads me to the above options, Zverev the best of them all. He should have a very manageable quarter ahead of him given Daniil Medvedev's struggles on clay, and I am inclined to side with oddsmakers that he should win his first-round match against Nadal with conviction.
Zverev looks indomitable right now, serving massive and limiting the forehand errors that have plagued him in the past. He's my favorite play in Paris this week.
Best Bet: Alexander Zverev to win 2024 French Open (+700)
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