Tennis Picks 2025 (Thursday 12th June)

A decision was made partway through the French Open to really take a watching brief after some brutal luck early in the tournament.

Ultimately the feeling was that I had ignored the way the tournament was developing at the Australian Open in 2024 and that set the entirety of the season behind schedule.

With a solid opening to 2025 under the belt, the feeling was that there was some confusion in the selections being made at the French Open and so I did not want to remain on a pathway that was not going to be leading to a positive return. Instead it was better to just take a step back and that proved to be the case with some many of the matches in the second week of the event also seemingly moving against the numbers.

It has been a tough tournament, but in a long season, you have to expect some of the lows although I am always keen to avoid them at Grand Slam events.

The numbers on the tournament were a disappointment, but that was far from the word that would have been used for the Men's Final last Sunday.

Jannik Sinner has to be feeling incredibly sick at blowing the chance to win a third Grand Slam in a row- he was up two sets and a break and then had three consecutive Championship Points in the fourth set, only to be eventually undone in a Champions tie-breaker at the end of the absorbing fifth set.

For fans of the sport who have lived through the Big Four era, it was an incredible Final put together by the two best players on the ATP Tour and you would be hard pressed to find too many people who are not anticipating Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz facing off on Sunday 13th July in the Wimbledon Final.

That Grand Slam Final will sit alongside some of the very best we have seen, but the Women's Final was not as strong in terms of quality, but had plenty of drama attached to it too.

Aryna Sabalenka is a fabulous player, but a late Grand Slam capitulation has become far too familiar for her, her team and her fans and she will head to Wimbledon with all of the attributes to win the title, except perhaps the most important which is the mental strength.

Some will consider that a harsh assessment of a player that has won multiple Grand Slam titles, but these late collapses have prevented the World Number 1 having double the number that is in the trophy cabinet.

The victor, Coco Gauff, has plenty of grass court pedigree of her own so the top two players are expected to be there or thereabouts, even if the Women's Wimbledon tournament has been wide open over recent years. There will be players who feel they can put the tennis together to have a big event when that begins in July and it will be interesting to see how the draw shapes up.

Before the third Grand Slam of the season gets underway, there are three weeks of grass court tournaments in the lead up to Wimbledon.

The short season is still one that some believe should be expanded, but there are a lot of players who cannot stand this time of the year and those are the vulnerable ones you have to look out for.

Form can be determined by results over the remainder of the month, including at the new WTA event being played at Queens this week.

Early matches have really provided a watching brief, although one or two selections came very close to being placed on a thread here.

I have noted that the layers are taking no chances with the total games marks being set for matches in Stuttgart and Hertogenbosch, where the ATP are playing (there is also a WTA event in the latter), and so the main focus for the remainder of this week could be on the WTA events being played, notably that one in West London not far from Wimbledon.

Selections will be made when they are fitting the criteria and the ambition over the last two and a half weeks of June is to build some momentum to take into the third Grand Slam of the season.

Emma Raducanu - 4.5 games v Rebecca Sramkova: Weeks before beginning her memorable run at the US Open, Emma Raducanu really announced herself to the British public by reaching the Fourth Round at Wimbledon.

Two top 50 Ranked players were beaten in that run, including Marketa Vondrousova who would go on to win Wimbledon in 2023, but suffice to say it has been a tough few years for Emma Raducanu who will be playing as the World Number 37 this week.

2022 was just a difficult season overall and 2023 injuries meant missing the grass court season entirely, but the British player is very comfortable on this surface. Last year she displayed that comfort with another Fourth Round run at Wimbledon, while Emma Raducanu also reached a Semi Final and a Quarter Final in warm up events.

A crushing First Round win at the reborn Queens tournament will have served as a reminder and Emma Raducanu deserves her strong favouritism in this match.

Some may disagree when noting that Rebecca Sramkova is only four places below Emma Raducanu in the World Rankings and playing in this Second Round after upsetting Wimbledon Champion Barbora Krejcikova in the First Round, but it should be noted that the latter is not looking like a player that will have another deep run in SW19 as injuries have held her back.

Back in 2016, Rebecca Sramkova did reach the Final of an event played on the grass courts, but at a level far below the WTA Tour... Since then it has been a real struggle for the 28 year old who has a 5-6 record on the grass and shown enough disdain for the surface to only have been involved in matches under the Wimbledon banner before taking part in the tournament here in Queens.

Prior to the win over Krejcikova, Rebecca Sramkova had never beaten a top 100 Ranked player on the grass and this should be a match where Emma Raducanu feels pretty comfortable, especially with the surface having a bit more wear on it.

The Sramkova first serve can be an effective weapon and that deserves some respect, but she is going to have to take risks with it and that means the percentage being made is likely to hover around the 52-55% mark. That should open the door for Emma Raducanu to turn the screw on the return of serve and the British player has been able to produce a 6-2 record on the grass when facing players outside of the top 20 in the World Rankings over the last twelve months.

Her return has not always been the most efficient, but Raducanu had her eye in during the First Round win and can back that up with another strong performance.

Diana Shnaider - 2.5 games v Katie Boulter: A French Open that ended prematurely will have disappointed Diana Shnaider, but the youngster showed some solid grass court qualities last year and may feel she can put together some strong results on this surface again.

The crushing First Round win can only offer the World Number 12 some real confidence to take into this match, which is going to be far from easy against a home player who will have the crowd firmly behind her.

Katie Boulter will still be hoping she can earn a Seed for Wimbledon and she is the current World Number 34, while in recent years she has shown her passion for grass court tennis. Throughout her career, Boulter has proven to be a very comfortable player on a surface that so many struggle to deal with, and she has a 29-12 record in main WTA tournaments played on the grass since the Covid cancelled 2020 grass court season.

Despite that, Katie Boulter will perhaps be a little disappointed that the win-loss record drops to 17-11 when only considering matches played against top 100 Ranked players in that time. She is also just 12-10 when facing opponents that are Ranked higher than her when the match is played, and eleven of those wins were in either 2021 or 2022 when Katie Boulter was Ranked outside of the top 100.

She still had to win the matches, but it is a real worry that the current British Number 1 has a 1-4 record against opponents Ranked higher than herself since cracking the top 100 in her own right.

Even her First Round win over Ajla Tomljanovic was a real battle- the Australian is a very good grass court player too, but she is only returning from an injury and is the World Number 64, while Tomljanovic will be frustrated at creating 14 Break Points compared with just 6 for Katie Boulter.

This is a significant step upwards for Boulter, who will need the crowd to get behind her and push her through, but the Birmingham Quarter Finalist and Bad Homburg Champion from 2024 should have the power to come through.

Elena Rybakina - 5.5 games v Heather Watson: The first match on a grass court can always be an awkward experience, even for a former Wimbledon Champion like Elena Rybakina.

Her performance at Roland Garros has to offer some encouragement to a player who continues to deal with off court issues that are clearly impacting her play on the court.

Elena Rybakina has every tool you would want if you were going to build a proper grass court player- she is perhaps a slightly weaker mover than ideal, but the big serve and the powerful aggressive groundstrokes makes the World Number 11 a real contender when Wimbledon rolls around.

She will be given a test by Heather Watson, even if the 33 year old British player has slipped down the World Rankings. These days it is the likes of Emma Raducanu and Katie Boulter who will make the headlines for British Women's tennis in the summer and Heather Watson has not only fallen to World Number 164, but she was beaten early in a lower level event in Birmingham.

Heather Watson has to feel she has benefited from needing to win a couple of Qualifiers to take her place in the main draw in Queens and she was able to best World Number 27 Yulia Putintseva in the First Round without dropping a set.

However, this feels like a considerable step upwards against a former Wimbledon Champion and especially when you factor in Heather Watson's 3-8 record in her previous eleven grass court matches before entering the Qualifying draw here.

All three of her defeats last year were in competitive matches, but none of the opponents were nearly as highly Ranked as Elena Rybakina is and the question really is about how quickly the higher Seed can get into the groove on the grass.

The expectation is that the first set could be more competitive, but Rybakina may begin to move through the gears into the second set and that can see her progress to the Quarter Final with a solid win on the board.

MY PICKS: Emma Raducanu - 4.5 Games @ 1.83 Bet365 (1 Unit)

Diana Shnaider - 2.5 Games @ 1.91 William Hill (1 Unit)

Elena Rybakina - 5.5 Games @ 1.91 Bet Victor (1 Unit)

2025 Season: 90-75, + 8.10 Units (203 Units Staked, + 3.99% Yield)

French Open Tennis Day 15 Pick 2025- Men's Final (Sunday 8th June)

The way the last week of the French Open has played out, it is making my decision earlier in the tournament to shut things down look a very good one.

Matches that have swung wildly are great for the fans, but not so much for the selections and it felt like a weird tournament just a few days into the event.

The last of the French Open matches will be played on Sunday before all attention turns to the relatively short grass court season and the build towards Wimbledon. It should be a really good Men's Final between two players who may be competing in many more Grand Slam Finals against one another over the coming years and I don't think anyone would be surprised if we see Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner going at it again either at Wimbledon or the US Open later this season.

Jannik Sinner-Carlos Alcaraz over 39.5 games: This is the Men's Final at Roland Garros that most would have wanted to see as the World Number 1 takes on the defending Champion.

In something of a surprise, we have not really had the Jannik Sinner vs Carlos Alcaraz all that often at Grand Slam events, despite most of the fans believing this is the rivalry that will move forward at the end of the Big Four era.

This will be the fourth time the pair will meet at a Grand Slam and only the second time since the 2022 US Open, which again is a big, big surprise. The last time Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz met at a Grand Slam was right here in Paris twelve months ago as the latter got the better of the Italian in a five set Semi Final on his way to winning the title here.

Jannik Sinner may be the World Number 1, but he has lost eight of the twelve previous matches against Carlos Alcaraz- they had split the first four matches, but Alcaraz has begun to take control of the rivalry with four wins in a row, which includes beating Sinner at the Rome Masters last month.

That may give Carlos Alcaraz the mental advantage, although he is going to have to play with a little more consistency than he did in the Semi Final win over Lorenzo Musetti. He will need to serve well to try and move into control in the rallies, and Carlos Alcaraz can take some encouragement from the way Novak Djokovic was able to use his serve against Jannik Sinner in the Semi Final two days ago.

The Spaniard has been able to produce some decent serving numbers against Sinner in their previous matches, no matter the surface on which they have played, but it has not been a dominant shot. There are likely to be moments when the top Seed is able to get his teeth into the return games, which will not surprise anyone, but Sinner only created 2 Break Points in the match in Rome.

In that match, Jannik Sinner only faced 3 Break Points of his own, but was broken twice and he is going to need to get a bit more out of his serve. His numbers in this tournament have been decent, but Sinner has not been able to use his serve as he would have liked in matches against Carlos Alcaraz.

After saying all that, the overriding feeling is that this is going to be a competitive Men's Final and one that could go pretty long.

The last two Grand Slam matches between the players have both needed the fifth set to determine the winner and Carlos Alcaraz had to go five sets to win the French Open in 2024.

Backing a winner is tough, although the edge may be with the defending Champion.

The layers are finding it difficult to separate them, which is unsurprising, and the only disappointment for the fans is if the players are not able to both push this into a very competitive, long Final.

MY PICK: Jannik Sinner-Carlos Alcaraz Over 39.5 Games

French Open Tennis Day 14 Pick 2025- Women's Final (Saturday 7th June)

The French Open comes to a conclusion this weekend and we should have two quality Finals to watch, beginning with the Women's Final on Saturday.

Aryna Sabalenka - 2.5 games v Coco Gauff: Moving into the World Number 1 spot should have been an indicator as to who is the best WTA player in the world, but there have still be some vulnerabilities around Aryna Sabalenka. She has won Grand Slam titles, but has perhaps not been the kind of dominant Champion that most would associate with the clear top player in the world.

Things may be changing after her run at Roland Garros, although Aryna Sabalenka has to get over the line to prove the point.

She reached the Australian Open Final earlier this season, but was upset by an American in that Final and Aryna Sabalenka will be much more wary of the abilities of Coco Gauff compared with Madison Keys.

They are different players- Keys is a big hitter capable of taking the ball away from any opponent she faces, while Gauff has a much more all around tennis style. However, it is a style that has seen Coco Gauff beat Aryna Sabalenka in a Grand Slam Final before and she is playing with plenty of confidence having beaten the last home hope in the Semi Final.

Coco Gauff will know that this is a much tougher challenge compared with the Semi Final, but she will be confident in the way she is playing. She will need to serve more effectively to just contain the threat that is going to be coming from the other side of the net, but the Coco Gauff movement and ability to get the ball back into the court when seemingly beyond most players can be hugely effective tools on the clay courts.

Throughout the French Open, Coco Gauff has been able to get into return games and put immense pressure on her opponents, and that is something she will feel she can do even against a top server like Aryna Sabalenka. She will have taken some encouragement from the way Iga Swiatek was able to create pressure on the Sabalenka serve, although the win over the three time defending Champion will certainly give the World Number 1 all of the confidence she needs.

As good as Aryna Sabalenka is, there are still some vulnerabilities about her, especially from a mental point of view.

If Coco Gauff can keep the sets competitive, Aryna Sabalenka could be put under some pressure and she has had a number of disappointing results late in Grand Slam events.

However, Aryna Sabalenka has won four of the last six matches against Coco Gauff and that can be a factor.

The serve has ended up being a key weapon in those matches and Aryna Sabalenka may have that edge again in this Women's Final to round out the second Grand Slam of the season. It is unlikely to be a match that doesn't have some swings and roundabouts, especially at the French Open in 2025, but the repeat of the Madrid Final may end up with the same winner and with a similar margin, which would be good enough to cover this handicap mark set.

MY PICK: Aryna Sabalenka - 2.5 Games

French Open Tennis Day 13 Picks 2025 (Friday 6th June)

Day 13 at the French Open is reserved for the men's Semi Final matches and we do have two solid match ups as we draw to the end of the second Grand Slam tournament of the season.

The second will certainly garner more of the sporting headlines as Novak Djokovic takes on current World Number 1 Jannik Sinner so soon after the latter returned from a three month ban for failing a drugs test last year. There are going to be a lot of interested spectators in that match, while Carlos Alcaraz and Lorenzo Musetti could be in line to meet in multiple more Grand Slam matches in the future, especially here at Roland Garros.

Jannik Sinner - 5.5 games v Novak Djokovic: While the rest of his long-term rivals have moved into retirement, 38 year old Novak Djokovic continues to push back against Father Time and he has reached another Semi Final at the French Open.

He dropped the first set of his Quarter Final against Alexander Zverev and looked to be under some pressure, but Novak Djokovic's aura still exists when it comes to facing those who have been on the Tour for a long time. You could see the belief ebbing out of Alexander Zverev at an alarming rate mid-way through the third set and he never really recovered until it was far too late.

A passive approach has been criticised with many believing that underlined the lack of belief that Alexander Zverev really had in his ability to earn the upset.

This is almost certainly not going to be the approach that the World Number 1 takes as Jannik Sinner looks to add another Grand Slam to his collection.

His three month suspension was followed by an immediate run to the Rome Masters Final, which showed Jannik Sinner has not missed much of a beat. Since arriving in Paris, Jannik Sinner has made it his business to not only win matches, but to win in such dominant style to really lay down a marker to his main rivals and you have to say he has achieved that and more.

The numbers have been stunning- Jannik Sinner has been serving at a high elite level, but he has been backing that up with aggressive returning and his recent opponents have not been able to live with him.

In saying all of that, Jannik Sinner will know that Novak Djokovic represents a significant upgrade in level of opponent and the former World Number 1 is on a decent winning run having won the title in Geneva just prior to the French Open beginning. There have been a couple of moments when Djokovic has been pushed, but the Olympic Gold Medal winner has looked very comfortable back here at Roland Garros and he will have taken plenty of positives out of the Quarter Final win.

At the same time, Novak Djokovic will have to be at close to full strength to match the intensity and power that Jannik Sinner is going to be bringing onto the court. Unlike Alexander Zverev, Jannik Sinner is not going to lose faith in the heavy groundstrokes that have taken him to the top of the men's game and further confidence can be taken from the fact he has beaten Novak Djokovic in each of the last three matches between them.

That includes crushing Djokovic on his favoured court at the Australian Open in 2024, while the improved Jannik Sinner serve has not even faced a Break Point in the last two matches against the best return player of all time.

Novak Djokovic will have plenty of motivation from the odds favouring his opponent, but Jannik Sinner is not Alexander Zverev.

He is not someone who is likely going to capitulate mentally if a couple of games have not gone his way and Jannik Sinner has shown he can overwhelm opponents with the tennis he can produce. As long as he serves near to where he has been throughout this tournament, the Italian will likely keep Novak Djokovic under the pump and that may eventually lead to a more comfortable victory than most would expect.

MY PICKS: Carlos Alcaraz - 6.5 Games

Jannik Sinner - 5.5 Games

NBA Playoff Picks 2025- NBA Finals (Thursday 5th June-Sunday 22nd June)

Plans were being made to at least be in New York City IF the Knicks were to finally make it back into the NBA Finals, but the Indiana Pacers had other ideas and there are already some big changes being made in Gotham to get their team over the line.

Credit has to be given to the Pacers who reached the Eastern Conference Finals last year and who have moved through the Playoffs with some big wins over a former, recent Champion, the Number 1 Seed in the Eastern Conference and then getting the better of the New York Knicks for a second year in a row.

They look a potentially dangerous team and one that could have more to come, but they are facing the top Seed in the Western Conference and an Oklahoma City Thunder team that have looked the one to beat all season.

The Denver Nuggets almost secured the upset over the Thunder in the Second Round, but Oklahoma City have used that to fuel them and the crushing win over the Minnesota Timberwolves means they enter the Finals as a significant favourite.

It may not be the NBA Finals that some of the television executives would have hoped for, but there is a potential for it to be a fun Series with the way both the Pacers and Thunder approach their Basketball.

After a couple of strong Playoff runs for the NBA Picks, 2025 has proven to be more challenging. The Conference Finals selections were in a terrible position to open, but there is some momentum from turning things around and hopefully the NBA Finals Picks can at least turn a profit to round out the season.

All selections from the NBA Finals will be placed in this one thread.

NBA Finals 2025- Indiana Pacers vs Oklahoma City Thunder (June 5th-22nd)

Thursday 5th June

Indiana Pacers @ Oklahoma City Thunder Game 1 Pick: The NBA Finals features two teams where both would have expected to be taking part in this Series, but only one that the public would have believed in.

For much of the last eighteen months, the Oklahoma City Thunder have looked like a developing team that were ready to move from potential into Champions.

However, they were upset in the Second Round of the Playoffs last season and the same almost happened in 2025- this time the Thunder found a way to progress in Game 7 and the comfortable Series win over the Minnesota Timberwolves means they will go in as favourites to win the NBA Finals.

Fans, and the layers, have believed in Oklahoma City all season and they were amongst the market leaders even before the first tip-off.

On the other side, the Indiana Pacers may have felt overlooked by outsiders and they were considered an underdog even when the Playoffs began with the likes of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics seen as much more likely NBA Finalists. The Pacers had experience though having reached the Eastern Conference Finals in 2024 and this is a team and a Coaching staff that have full belief in what they are trying to do.

The Pacers have dropped just four games in beating Milwaukee, Cleveland and the New York Knicks in the Playoff run and the Offensive power has been really impressive. There is a depth to the rotation that makes them dangerous and this will give Indiana fans real hope that they can upset the odds and win the NBA Championship.

Key players will have to perform at a top level and the Pacers are also going to be tested by an Oklahoma City rotation that can match their depth from the bench. There is no doubt that the Thunder can go score for score if needed, but the real difference between the teams may be on the Defensive side of the court where Oklahoma City have played at an elite level.

Unlike the teams that have been beaten by the Pacers, the Oklahoma City Thunder will feel they have the players that can rotate around and really put the clamp on this strong Offensive unit.

They did meet twice in the regular season and the Indiana Pacers will take encouragement from the fact they scored 111 and 114 points in those games, although they lost both, which underlines how tough it may be to find the balance needed to beat the top Seed coming out of the Western Conference.

The game hosted by the Thunder was played as recently as the end of March and resulted in a 19 point win for the home team.

Oklahoma City are being asked to cover a big number in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, but they are in a position where recent hosts in the NBA Finals have produced dominant wins. In the last eleven, those hosts have a 9-2 record against the spread and have won by an average of over 13 points per game, while home favourites being asked to lay at least 4.5 points have a 21-10-2 record against the spread since 2013.

It is a big number for Game 1 considering what we have seen from the Indiana Pacers on the Offensive side of the court, but it does feel like the Thunder are significantly better and that could play out to lay an early marker down for the entire NBA Finals.

Sunday 8th June

Indiana Pacers @ Oklahoma City Thunder Game 2 Pick: For long periods of Game 1, it felt like the Oklahoma City Thunder were in complete control and almost certainly going to be picking up the win.

However, they were not quite able to kick clear of the Indiana Pacers and teams have found out throughout the post-season that allowing the Eastern Conference Champions to stick around has been very dangerous. They have already had a number of historical comebacks during the Playoff run and the Indiana Pacers became the first team to be trailing by at least 9 points with three minutes left in a Conference Finals game and still manage to secure the win.

All credit has to be given to a team that have quality, but also a depth and balance that has proven to be too much for so many to handle. There is a real belief in one another, which means looking to find the open man no matter who it is, and the three point shooting continues to be a solid pathway to keeping Indiana within range of striking.

Tyrese Haliburton made the headlines for his game-winning shot, but he will feel there is so much room for improvement after a game in which he had 14 Points, 10 Rebounds and 6 Assists.

The Offensive balance mentioned is underlined by the fact that none of the Indiana players managed to score 20 points, but six players all had at least 10 points. Winning a game on the road without someone dominating and with the heavy turnovers will have given Indiana so much belief and the pressure will have shifted onto the Oklahoma City Thunder having lost home advantage and desperate to avoid being in a 0-2 hole when travelling to Indiana next week.

The Thunder will be tasked with making adjustments and that may begin with a more consistent three point shooting game and just resetting the Defensive schemes. They began really well, but Indiana were not stopped in the second half and that ultimately proved to be an issue when the Thunder's own Offensive firepower lessened.

Indiana have to be respected having led 2-0 in each of the three Playoff Series that have been won and they will be focused as they look to take a firm grip of the NBA Finals.

However, hosts have tended to play well in Game 2 of the Conference Finals and those that have lost Game 1 of any Playoff Series have largely bounced back with big wins. The Pacers avoided that fate when beating the Cleveland Cavaliers for a second time in a row in the Second Round, but the Oklahoma City Thunder crushed the Denver Nuggets having been upset in Game 1 in the same Round.

Over the last four years, those teams are 21-7 straight up and the Thunder have shown all season that they can rally even after a disappointing result.

There has to be a respect for a Pacers team that have played hard over the last month and during a 2025 NBA Playoffs where so many big leads have evaporated. However, you cannot dismiss the Thunder after a single game and they may just rally for a strong win in Game 2 in front of the home fans.

Wednesday 11th June

Oklahoma City Thunder @ Indiana Pacers Game 3 Pick: There won't have been much surprise about the fact that the Oklahoma City Thunder put up a big response to dropping Game 1 of the NBA Finals and the 16 point win in Game 2 was even more comfortable than the final score might have suggested.

The momentum may have swung back to the Western Conference Champions, and favourites to win the NBA Championship, but the Indiana Pacers have responded to setbacks right through the NBA Playoff run.

Ultimately the Pacers will be returning home feeling like they have achieved their most immediate goal and that is taking away home advantage from the Oklahoma City Thunder. This is the first time in the post-season that the Indiana Pacers are not leading 2-0 after the first two games, which is going to be challenging, but there is a real feeling amongst the Pacers players and staff that there are many adjustments they can still make.

With that in mind, the 1-1 score after two games is pretty good for Indiana who should have lost both games, but continue to show they can rally at key moments.

However, the adjustments that they need to make are clear and the Pacers are still in 'prove it' mode as they look to get the team on track in Game 3. Slow starts have been a feature of the opening two games, but the Pacers have not allowed the Oklahoma City Thunder to pull too far away and they will be expecting role players to produce much better being back at home.

Tyrese Haliburton took the headlines for his game winning shot in Game 1, but he has only scored 31 points in the two games played and the Pacers have yet to have a single player reach 20 points. This has to change, as Haliburton has acknowledged, while the slow starts also cannot continue with Indiana being forced to fight out of holes.

They scored 45 first half points in Game 1 and just 41 points in Game 2, but the Pacers have found a stronger rhythm in the second half of both of those games. Unfortunately for Indiana, they were down in a deep hole in Game 2 and could not really force their way back into that one as a contest and so that is something Rick Carlisle and the team have to address if they are going to find a way back to Oklahoma City either 3-1 ahead or, at worse, at 2-2.

Indiana's depth has impressed, but those bench players have not been as effective as they need and there is some pressure on the starters to come out and fire. The Pacers have been in decent shape when the starting five have been on the court, but they just need to make some adjustments to try and put some pressure on a Thunder Defensive unit that have impressed all season.

It is tough to oppose Oklahoma City, but this is a team that have had more challenges when playing on the road and the Indiana Pacers should still have plenty of belief in what they are trying to do. With the home crowd behind them, Indiana should be able to make a faster start and some of the bench players should be more comfortable being back in their own Arena.

At the same time, perhaps the Thunder bench is not as effective now they are operating in a hostile environment and so the points on offer with the home team look appealing.

Teams that have been blown out in the NBA Finals have struggled in their next game, but that was not the case in the 2024 Series and the Indiana Pacer can bounce back. They can take comfort from the fact that teams that have won Game 2 have followed up with a 4-8 record against the spread in Game 3, while it cannot be ignored that the Oklahoma City Thunder are 0-7 against the spread as the road favourite in the NBA Playoffs this season, despite being 4-3 straight up in those games.

The Pacers are 6-2 straight up at home in the Playoff run in 2025 and they are 1-1 against the spread when set as the home underdog.

There are likely going to be moments when the Thunder look like they can pull away for another big win, but the Indiana Pacers have shown they can make the adjustments before and during games when things have gone against them. Those have seen the Pacers surprise at times and they may be able to keep this one competitive and potentially pull the upset outright.

MY PICKS: 05/06 Oklahoma City Thunder - 9.5 Points @ 1.91 Bet365 (1 Unit)

08/06 Oklahoma City Thunder - 10.5 Points @ 1.85 Ladbrokes (1 Unit)

11/06 Indiana Pacers + 5.5 Points @ 1.91 William Hill (1 Unit)

NBA Finals: 0-1, - 1 Unit (1 Unit Staked, - 100% Yield)

Conference Finals: 5-5, - 0.45 Units (10 Units Staked, - 4.50% Yield)

Second Round: 8-14-1, - 6.64 Units (23 Units Staked, - 28.87% Yield)

First Round: 20-19, - 0.72 Units (39 Units Staked, - 1.85% Yield)

Play In Tournament: 3-3, - 0.28 Units (6 Units Staked, - 4.67% Yield)

French Open Tennis Day 12 Picks 2025 (Thursday 5th June)

The Grand Slam events can see players create some magical stories, but the Lois Boisson one at Roland Garros is historic.

Emma Raducanu's success at the US Open in 2021 was an incredible story with the Qualifier coming through and winning the tournament, but it can be argued that Boisson's run is even more impressive.

For the first time in this event, Lois Boisson will be playing on consecutive days and it will be interesting to see how she continues to handle the increasing pressure, although the soon to be top 70 Ranked player may feel she has 'nothing to lose'.

It is the women Semi Final matches that will take centre stage in Paris on Day 12 of the tournament and both are going to be intriguing matches.

My thoughts on those matches can be read below as the first of the two Singles Finals at the French Open are set by the end of Thursday's action.

Iga Swiatek v Aryna Sabalenka: The only disappointment some tennis fans may feel is that this is a Semi Final rather than the Final when the World Number 1 takes on the three time defending French Open Champion.

For the first time in a long time, Iga Swiatek entered the tournament here in Paris with plenty of doubters around her after a mixed clay court season. Her World Ranking is in danger of suffering another drop and only holding onto her crown as the Queen of Clay would see Swiatek end the tournament as a top four Ranked player.

It has been tough.

However, Iga Swiatek has looked pretty comfortable back on the red dirt in the French capital and it has felt like her Fourth Round win over Elena Rybakina has just reminded the Pole about her own abilities. Winning that in the manner she did will have provided Iga Swiatek with a shot of confidence and belief and this is a Semi Final she can win.

Opposing Aryna Sabalenka is dangerous with the World Number 1 looking capable of winning Grand Slam titles on any surface, but who has yet to actually prove that by doing so at either the French Open or Wimbledon. That means there is still something to show as far as the Belarusian is concerned and this match up has still been a tough one for Aryna Sabalenka.

She did snap a three match losing run to Iga Swiatek by beating her in Cincinnati last year, but this is going to be played on the clay and Aryna Sabalenka has only won one of the previous six against the Pole on this surface.

Last year they had a very close match in Madrid that was won by Iga Swiatek and that was followed by a more comfortable win for the dominant clay courter in Rome.

There are more doubts around this Semi Final simply because of the form that both were showing prior to the start of the French Open, but the runs produced by both at the tournament suggests there is not much between them now.

Aryna Sabalenka has to take a huge amount from the Fourth Round performance of Elena Rybakina and that is going to be the blueprint she looks to follow. If she can just maintain that for a little longer than Rybakina did, Aryna Sabalenka could win this match, but we have seen the World Number 1 come up short at around this stage of multiple Grand Slams previously.

Ultimately she is going to have to break through some of the aura that Iga Swiatek has continued to hold on the clay courts and it can be tough for Aryna Sabalenka to do that.

The last couple of Rounds have been a bit more stressful for Aryna Sabalenka, even if she is still playing at a strong level, but this is a significant test for her. She will have to serve well and there is little doubt that Iga Swiatek is playing better than expected when this tournament began.

When all is said and done, it is difficult to see Iga Swiatek as the underdog in the Semi Final and it may be the defending Champion's serve that proves to be slightly more effective on the day.

Lois Boisson + 5.5 games v Coco Gauff: On paper you have to feel that there can only be one winner, but tennis in Paris is played on clay and Lois Boisson is riding a momentum that could be very, very difficult to stop.

She will soon be entering the top 70 of the World Rankings, but there had been nothing to suggest the French Wild Card was going to be having a tournament like this one when the French Open began. Inexperience should have been a factor and that is before considering the time Lois Boisson had to spend away from the court after the ACL injury suffered last year, but momentum and confidence is firmly with the 22 year old.

The win over Mirra Andreeva will have given her a huge amount of belief and this is the second top ten Ranked player that Lois Boisson has beaten at this tournament as she takes aim at the third.

The crowd certainly helped as Mirra Andreeva lost her way and reminded everyone that she is still a teenager, no matter how much talent she possesses.

Whether the same mental breakdown can be expected from an experienced player like Coco Gauff is a question to be answered and this could yet be a decisive factor.

In recent years, Gauff has spoken about the positive support she has received in Paris and she has clearly enjoyed playing here with the crowd getting behind her. However, she will not have experienced an atmosphere like the one that is expected for this Semi Final as she takes on a home player with the fans hoping for the first French Champion in Paris since Mary Pierce in 2000.

With a serve that is still looking vulnerable, Coco Gauff is going to have to deal with the cheers after Double Faults and missed first serves and that can wear down even the most experienced of players.

The World Number 2 showed her resiliency to come through in three sets her Quarter Final against Madison Keys and Coco Gauff is returning well enough to believe she can overcome shaky service games. She will likely put Lois Boisson under more consistent pressure than Mirra Andreeva was able to do and Gauff is also a strong defensive player who can make the less experienced player have to hit one more shot than she may expect.

Ultimately we should see the higher Ranked player come through, but it is unlikely that Lois Boisson will go quietly and the layers are putting a lot more respect on her in this Semi Final. That is highlighted by the handicap being below the mark set, by some layers, for Boisson's matches against Andreeva and Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff can be considered a stronger clay court player than both at this stage of their respective careers.

However, it is the vulnerable serve that may end up making this a very competitive Semi Final and Coco Gauff is going to have to get through some emotions if she is able to reach another French Open Final.

MY PICKS: Iga Swiatek

Lois Boisson + 5.5 Games

French Open Tennis Day 11 Picks 2025 (Wednesday 4th June)

The big Semi Final that most would have anticipated on the women's side of the French Open tournament has been set on Day 10 and the winner of that match between Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek will go into Saturday's Final as the favourite to win the second Grand Slam of the season.

At the time of writing, neither men's Quarter Final match from Day 10 has been completed, but the thoughts already turn to the other half of the draws.

We have the top Quarter Final of the Round set to round out the day on Wednesday as the tournament ticks into the final five days and my thoughts on three of the four Quarter Final matches to be played on Day 11 can be read below.

Madison Keys + 3.5 games v Coco Gauff: Winning the Australian Open earlier this year came as a surprise, despite the obvious qualities that Madison Keys has shown throughout her career. However, it felt her best days were now behind her and that winning a Grand Slam would be something that she missed out on.

Instead Madison Keys stunned everyone to take the title in Melbourne, and she is perhaps having an even more surprising push to take the title at Roland Garros.

In 2018 and 2019, Madison Keys did reach the Semi Final and Quarter Final respectively at the French Open so she has previous on the clay courts, but there has been just one Fourth Round run since then. A Quarter Final run at Madrid was the outlier in the build up to the French Open, but that is a tournament where you perhaps get the least form guide for the second Grand Slam of the season due to the unique conditions at the event.

The serve has been key for Keys, pardon the pun, at the French Open with at least 69% of points won behind the delivery and that is going to be a big factor in determining the outcome of this Quarter Final. Madison Keys will be well aware that she is going to have to serve well against Madrid Runner Up Coco Gauff, who has been returning really well in the tournament as she looks to add to the US Open title she has won previously.

Winning the title in New York City is the clear highlight of the career so far, but Coco Gauff's most consistent Grand Slam results have been earned in Paris- this is the fifth year in a row she has reached the Quarter Final at Roland Garros, although half of those previous runs have ended in this Round.

Coco Gauff is still having some issues with the serve, but she has won at least 60% of points played behind this shot in three of the four wins to move through the draw. The real advantage Coco Gauff has had over her opponents has been on the return of serve with at least 53% of return points won in each of the previous matches in the tournament and at least five breaks of serve per Round.

Of course it has to be noted that the Madison Keys serve is the best that Coco Gauff will have faced so far in the tournament, but the higher Ranked American will be confident in being able to put the Australian Open Champion under pressure.

It is Madison Keys who leads the head to head and the only previous clay court match between the two was won by Keys in Madrid last year.

This is expected to be another close fought contest though and the best approach may be backing Madison Keys with the start on the game handicap to at least keep this competitive, especially as she has a real opportunity to win this one outright.

Mirra Andreeva - 5.5 games v Lois Boisson: The French Open has been a disappointing event for those players that the public may have expected to see at the business end of the tournament, but Lois Boisson has surprised by making full use of her Wild Card to reach the Quarter Final.

Twelve months ago, Lois Boisson suffered an ACL injury on the eve of the French Open, which meant missing out on using her Wild Card and then spending several months on the sidelines rehabbing. She only returned in February and has been playing outside of the main WTA Tour in a bid to get up to match sharpness and also rebuild the Ranking points, which have seen her slip to World Number 361 as the French Open started.

Her peak World Ranking was Number 152 thirteen months ago, but Lois Boisson is already guaranteed to have a higher number at the end of the tournament.

Full credit has to be given to the 22 year old having beaten two Seeds in the four wins in Paris and both times having to do so in a final set decider to underline the grit and determination Lois Boisson has shown over the last year.

This is going to feel like another step up as she prepares to take on a younger player, but one who has shown massive potential and already sits inside the top ten of the World Rankings. Mirra Andreeva has every chance of finishing this tournament as a top four player, and her experience of reaching the French Open Semi Final last year will mean she should be able to handle the occasion.

Of course the atmosphere is going to be one in which the underdog is going to be receiving so much more support, but Andreeva will be happy to be going out second on Wednesday, which means the teenager can have a little more rest having admitted that she hates being first up.

The lower Ranked player has spent considerable more time on the court than Mirra Andreeva, which is a potential factor, and there have been signs that the Lois Boisson serve is beginning to become a vulnerability. As accumulated fatigue builds up, that serve is going to be come more and more appealing for Mirra Andreeva to attack and that may put the underdog in some pressurised spots.

Lois Boisson has continued to do enough on the return to stay in matches and that is going to be key for her here, but the feeling is that Mirra Andreeva is still playing at a level that may be tough for the World Number 361 to reach having invested so much into the tournament already.

Covering this handicap mark will not be easy, but the Mirra Andreeva level may see her pull away as the match develops and she may find the breaks needed to secure a relatively strong win on the scoreboard.

Alexander Zverev-Novak Djokovic over 39.5 games: As has been the case in recent years since the French Open added a Night Session to the schedule and sold the rights to that individually, there have been criticisms of the organisers for not placing a women's match in the 'limelight'.

It would be a complete surprise to all if people expected anything other than Alexander Zverev vs Novak Djokovic to have that scheduling spot on Day 11 at the French Open in what is the stand out Quarter Final of the last two days.

These two players faced off at the Australian Open Semi Final earlier in the year, but the match finished prematurely when Novak Djokovic was unable to play through an injury having dropped the first set. Last year, Djokovic's run at the French Open was ended in the Quarter Final due to another injury, but he did win the Olympic Gold here and the former World Number 1 looks to be peaking at the right time.

This is the SIXTEENTH year in a row that Novak Djokovic has at least made the Quarter Final at the French Open, which is an incredible achievement from a player who has had an incredible career. Two of the last four runs have ended without a Semi Final appearance, but the other two have finished with Djokovic lifting the trophy and his level over the last two Rounds will give him a lot of confidence.

Of course this is also a tournament in which Alexander Zverev has thrived and he will still be thinking about twelve months ago when leading Carlos Alcaraz in the Final. This has been the Grand Slam in which Alexander Zverev has played his most consistent tennis and he will be chasing a Semi Final spot for the fifth year in a row when taking the court on Wednesday.

He benefited from an early ending to his Fourth Round win, while Zverev has been producing at a consistently strong level as he has eased his way through the draw. Other players have taken the headlines, but that will not concern the World Number 3, even as he sits in the tougher half of the French Open draw.

The serve will be key for Alexander Zverev and it has been a strong weapon for him in this tournament- it has definitely felt like a more consistent shot for Zverev than Novak Djokovic's has felt for the former World Number 1 and it is imperative that the slight underdog serves well.

Both have produced solid returning numbers and that should make for a very good Quarter Final and one that goes potentially long, and certainly long enough to cover the total game line set.

Despite both being in the top ten of the World Rankings in recent years, Alexander Zverev and Novak Djokovic have missed one another at tournaments. This is only the third meeting since November 2021, which is pretty remarkable, and one of the previous two ended in Melbourne after just one set had been played.

They have met in the French Open Quarter Final before, in 2019, and it was Novak Djokovic who was a very comfortable winner on that day. However, six years later, this one has all of the hallmarks of being a much more competitive contest and the expectation is that we will see at least four sets, which should set the match on the road to surpass the total games line if Zverev and Djokovic continue to play to the level they have been as the tournament has progressed.

MY PICKS: Madison Keys + 3.5 Games

Mirra Andreeva - 5.5 Games

Alexander Zverev-Novak Djokovic Over 39.5 Games