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 Online 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

Tennis betting fans have a number of special bets on offer from bwin this year. You can bet on the player who will have the fastest serve throughout the tournament if you like to follow the progress of the big hitters. Andy Roddick is favourite for this bet at odds of 2.60 with big hitting fellow American Taylor Dent second favourite at 2.65. The Americans dominate the market with 6ft 9inch John Isner as third favourite. Isner uses his high vertical base and causes many players problems with his size around the court. A pro since 2007 he will be hoping to go further in the tournament than a first round he achieved last year. His odds are 4.70 to be the fastest server at the Australian Open.

Another interesting special Tennis bet is one on who will serve the most Aces between Ivo Karlovic and Roger Federer. Federer is not known for his serve power but he hits many Aces when on form. He has an amazing record of making every grand slam semi-finals for the last five years. With a handicap of +0.5 Federer has odds of 1.69 to hit more Aces than Karlovic. Ivo does not last as long as Federer in most tournaments, but hits more pure Aces per match. It is an interesting bet. If you believe Federer may be susceptible to a defeat in this tournament then perhaps the 2.04 odds for Karlovic to serve more Aces is a good bet for you. He made the third round of the tournament in 2008 so will need a good run to match Federer.

There are a number of special heads up matches with selected Tennis players squaring off against each other to see who wins the most games. You need to look at how often the players win matches in straight sets. For example, Del Potro +0.5 has odds of 1.85 versus Murray -0.5 at the same odds of 1.85. Murray often struggles from the third round onwards but gets through in four and five set matches when playing well. Del Potro is the on-form player in the world and generally wins in straight sets far into the tournament. Because Murray usually plays more sets in the tournaments and has been known to struggle in first and second round matches on occasion but still come through I would tip Murray at 1.85 to win more games. There are a lot of other combinations of players that you can research in a similar way and all offer intriguing decisions.

My favourite special bet is choosing an individual player out of the list and selecting how far you think they will go in the tournament. For example, Andy Murray has odds of 3.97 to make the final or win, 3.75 for making it to the quarter or semi final and 2.65 to go out between the first and last 16 rounds. All of the top players have odds on similar outcomes.

Thanks to the special tennis betting odds from bwin the start of the Tennis season is sure to go off with a bang.

By Malcolm Clarke