French Open Tennis – Betting odds from bwin

We have most of the opening round out of the way and no major casualties at this early stage of the French Open 2010. Federer, Nadal, Murray (after another five set win over Richard Gasquet after being 2-0 down in sets in a Grand Slam) and Roddick are safely through to round two whilst in the ladies event all the big names are through with the exception of the struggling former World number one Dinara Safina who lost to 39 year old Chinese player Kimiko Date-Krumm yesterday in three sets after being a set and break up in the second. A really bad day for Safina.

There are tons of betting odds from bwin on their site for various matches but for this article we are going to focus on my favourite part of Tennis betting, the outright winners market. So who will lift the trophy?

Men’s Singles Tournament

The heavy favourite with bwin.com is Rafa Nadal. He has crushed the clay court tournaments leading up to the French open and would have probably won last year had injury not hampered him against eventual finalist Robin Soderling. Rafa has odds of 29/100 to win the event as I write this article.

Roger Federer is second favourite at odds of 11/4. He has made at a minimum the semi-finals of the last 24 grand slams which is truly an incredible record, but he has only won once at the French. Nadal dominates him on clay and I expect Federer and Nadal to make the finals but for Nadal to win. There may be one year; however, that Federer gets the better of Nadal on clay with a superb performance.

Andy Roddick is 17/1, but struggled in his opening match. Murray got through the banana skin Gasquet contest but needs to overcome a knee injury and playing in the heat to have a chance. On clay you feel Murray lags further behind the top two players. Djokovic and Verdasco, a clay specialist, are 18/1 and both could have a run. For an outside bet you might want to consider David Ferrer, who made an ATP 1000 final the previous week and is 29/1.

My overall tip, which will be no surprise to anyone, is to expect a Federer versus Nadal final yet again.

Women’s Singles Tournament

Justine Henin is getting back to her old self after 20 months of retirement and still only 27 there is plenty left in the tank for her. She is 9/5 favourite for the championship that she has won in 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007. She has the belief and experience to claim this title and significantly the same players are threats to her like the Williams sisters than when she won so many titles before. I think she is a great bet to win this year, fresh after her long break and hungry for more success.

Maria Sharapova is 10/1. It is a pity her career has been blighted by a serious shoulder injury, but she is beginning to show signs of her previous best that won her two grand slams. I think she could have a run and thanks to her gritty play and glamorous looks she always has plenty of support on the court.

I believe Caroline Wozniacki is a future grand slam tennis champion and she is 20/1. If you are considering betting on an outsider she would be my pick.

Other well-known players expected to do well in the French Open are Serena Williams at 29/10, Jelena Jankovic at 4/1, home favourite Aravane Rezai at 7/1 and Venus Williams at 17/2.

Get your bets on early for the French Open as the betting odds are revised constantly due to the many matches taking place throughout the day in the early stages of the tournament.

By Malcolm Clarke