Currently bwin.com are offering sports betting odds on a special bet for the French Open which is who will finish higher in the French Open. The candidates are Roger Federer at 3/1, Rafael Nadal at 11/50 and for odds for them both exiting the tournament in the same round at 13/1. The high odds for both exiting the tournament in the same round is because one or both are likely to make the final as they will not meet until the final as the number one and number two seeds.

Nadal’s relief at winning his sixth consecutive Monte Carlo tennis tournament was evident by his exuberant celebrations and this was his first title in 11th months. Partly due to a dip in form and partly due to injury problems he has not been the massive force in Tennis that he was during 2007 – 2009 where he denied Federer so many additional Grand Slam wins. This win propels him back into the top category of players and his amazing record at the French Open suggests when the Tennis odds from bwin very soon he will probably be odds on favourite.

Andy Murray has fallen by the wayside in terms of challenging for a Grand Slam and has not looked nearly as hungry or convincing since he lost to Federer in the Australian Open final. He looks set to fall down the ranking list if he continues to suffer defeats in the early rounds of the big tournaments. Roger Federer is still dangerous, but has not dominated the game for some time and I think Nadal would beat him in the final if played now. Federer’s success at the French came against Soderling, I am unsure if he can beat Nadal at his best on clay. Previous results between the two players suggest not also.

In the ladies tournament, things are more open. Victoria Azarenka has tremendous resolve and is due for a good run in a major tournament if only she can keep the crowd on side as her temper can let herself down when the pressure is on. Na Li from China has done well in recent Grand Slams and has a chance, as does Clijsters, Kusnetsova, Serena Williams, Venus Williams and Jankovic. Most of the betting action will surround perennial Grand Slam challengers the Williams sisters who will be tough to beat. British hopes for a decent run in the ladies event lie with Elena Baltacha who is riding high at a career high 59th in the world rankings. Anne Keothavong was also ranked highly before a serious knee injury last summer so hopefully she can also do well as she continues her recovery.

In the Men’s game I would watch the form of Nadal, Djokovic and Gael Monfils carefully. Playing in front of his home crowd on his favourite surface could see Monfils have a surprise run with good odds. Gael has been widely tipped and has done well in the French Open in the past. As well as Clijsters, Henin, Williams V & S, Dementieva and Jankovic look carefully at the form of Wozniacki and Azarenka in the ladies tournament.

I like Victoria Azarenka to have a really good run if she gets a decent draw. She is fast and determined, just like Nadal and could do very well. She will probably be around 16/1 when the odds are released and could be worth an each way wager early.

By Malcolm Clarke

Nikolai Davydenko 1.85 Robin Soderling 1.85

My tennis tip for this match is Davydenko. Before the emergence of Del Potro and Murray Davydenko was a solid performer in the top five. Whilst he rarely manages to beat the likes of Djokovic, Federer and Nadal he maintains his rankings by winning circuit events and proving very hard to beat for players outside of the top few ranking spots. Soderling has benefited from being coached by Magnus Norman, but lacks the quality to regularly beat the top players. Davydenko is the best bet here at a reasonable heads up price of 1.85, but do not go crazy as this match is very close, particularly if Soderling is on form.

Rafa Nadal 1.70 Nikolai Davydenko 2.03

I find it hard to believe that Davydenko can be offered at even money to beat Nadal. Nadal is so far superior to Davydenko that I think 1.70 even offers value. My tip is for Nadal to win and you should consider bwins odds of 3.33 that Davydenko will not win a set in this match. You simply cannot see Nadal losing in this game and I would expect odds of around 1.50 for Nadal in this match so consider 1.70 to hold some value. Even when injured I would expect a Nadal win here, such is my confidence in his Tennis ability.

Rafa Nadal 2.94 Novak Djokovic 1.35

Djokovic played amazingly well against Nadal to win in Paris and Nadal commented afterwards that this was the best he had ever seen Novak play. I think Djokovic will at least get to the final here but is Nadal a value bet here? I think he certainly is. Rarely does a player beat Nadal easily twice in a row in such a short period of time; even Federer has not managed it! I think Nadal will make the necessary adjustments and beat Djokovic, probably in three sets. A lot depends on Nadals fitness as he has certainly been hampered by injuries this season. This should be another very close match.

Roger Federer 1.66 Andy Murray 2.09

Murray has always had the better of Federer on the hard courts, apart from the US Open final in 2008 where his inexperience at the grand slam final level let him down. With many circuit event wins to give him confidence, I think you can expect Murray to give Federer a really good game here. Betting on either player offers reasonable odds I think and Federer is certainly the favourite. Murray has beaten him before and both took long breaks after the US Open making the result hard to predict as we are unsure of their form. Perhaps a small wager on Murray to heap the misery on Federer who lost to Benneteau last week in his most surprise defeat for quite some time.

Murray is 1.22 to beat Verdasco at 3.82 in his other match. Verdasco managed to beat Murray at the Australian Open but when Murray is playing well he seems to win his sets 6-2 and 6-3 against the Spanish player. If you think Murray is vulnerable after injury the 3.82 could be a good bet. Watch out for Djokovic to cement his place near the top of the game in this tournament, you heard it here first! Enjoy your tennis betting this weekend and remember to check out the bwin live betting opportunities.

By Malcolm Clarke