French Open men's tips and preview: Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andrey Rublev tick plenty of boxes at Roland Garros

Paris in the spring means one thing to millions of sports fans - the iconic French Open - which kicks off on Sunday.

The big story is Rafael Nadal, who is set to play what most believe will be his final ever singles tournament at Roland Garros.

Nadal has dominated here for almost two decades, but has looked woefully out of sorts so far this season and there is a chance he may not even line up yet due to fears he won’t be able to do himself justice.

However if not now, then when? He will be nearly 39 by the time the 2025 French Open rolls around so if he is going to add to a record 14 titles on the hallowed Parisian clay, it’s going to have to be this year.

A career match record of 112-3 across 18 appearances at the French Open is unlikely to ever be bettered by a male or female player, but Rafa has not been near an ATP final so far in this his swansong season.

For this reason some bookies have him as big as 16/1, and while that is a price that will tempt some tennis romantics, it’s probably not a price anyone who saw him getting dismantled 6-1 6-3 by Hubert Hurkacz at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia recently will row in with.

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Novak Djokovic is another legend whose form this year has been all over the shop. Djokovic has won the French Open three times in his career and is the defending champion.

However, he is another superstar who has yet to win an ATP tournament in 2024 and his odds are drifting as a result (he is a top price 100/30 at time of writing).

The tennis GOAT debate is now dead after Djokovic's dominant 2023 season, but like Roy Jones in boxing he risks tainting his legacy if he continues to play and continues to slide.

You couldn’t totally rule him out given his supreme talent, but he is well into the winter of his career now and based on what we have seen so far this year he looks short enough in the outright market.

In terms of the Brits, Andy Murray is aiming to play at Roland Garros. He missed two months of the season after injuring his ankle at the Miami Open in March, but made his return at an ATP Challenger event in mid-May.

Murray is an eye-watering 600/1 for victory with some firms, which is crazy when you consider what he has achieved in the game.

However, of his 46 career singles titles, only three have come on clay. Two of those have been Masters wins - Madrid (2015) and Rome (2016) – and while he has been a French Open finalist he lost out in 2016 to Djokovic.

That was eight long years ago, and his body is unlikely to hold up for two weeks in what is the most physically demanding of all the four majors.

In terms of picking a winner, it looks far from straightforward as every member of the current ATP top four has some sort of injury of form concern going in.

Carlos Alcaraz remains the betting favourite (he is 2/1 with Planet Sport Bet) but his odds are on the drift due to an ongoing arm injury and the fact he has not been seen without a compression sleeve on his right arm on courts for several weeks.

‘Carlitos’ might have won here last year but for the fact he started to suffer from leg cramps just as he was beginning to turn the screw in his semi against Djokovic. He is still just about the favourite but his odds have drifted to 11/4 now in places.

Jannik Sinner is another mesmerising young talent who would be among the favourites if he was 100% fit.

However, he has been bothered by a hip problem that has kept him out of both the Madrid Masters and the Italian Masters in recent weeks and might swerve Paris altogether in order to focus on the grass-court season and Wimbledon.

If he does play, backing him at 9/2 would take an almighty leap of faith.

Ditto World No 4 Daniil Medvedev, who has also had some recent injury issues to contend with and looked dreadful as he was beaten in straights by Tommy Paul (who is not a clay specialist) in Rome recently.

 

 

Further down the betting, Stefanos Tsitsipas has enjoyed an excellent European clay swing and looks a little big at 7/1 to win his first Roland Garros title.

The Greek won Monte Carlo, a surface that plays similar to the French Open, a few weeks ago and also made the final in Madrid.

He seems to have resolved the issues surrounding his misfiring backhand and having made the final here in 2021 ticks plenty of boxes at a tempting price.

The same could be said of Andrey Rublev, a temperamental Russian who looks a solid each-way play at 25/1.

The Russian is an offensive baseliner with a huge forehand, and if he gets a bit of rub in terms of the draw and keep his emotions in check he could go deep in Paris.

He has already won two ATP titles this season, including Madrid on clay, and looks worth a peanut play at said odds.

 

Suggested bets:

Stefanos Tsitsipas to win the men’s French Open at 7/1 (Planet Sport Bet)

Andrey Rublev (each-way) to win the men’s French Open at 25/1 (Planet Sport Bet)
 

(All odds correct at time of article publication)