French Open Tennis Day 12 Picks 2018 (June 7th)

The rain finally did arrive in Paris having been a threat all week and it actually meant neither men's Quarter Final was able to be completed. In fact both were left at really big positions with Rafael Nadal serving for the second set in his match with Diego Sebastian Schwartzman after the latter won the first set, while the other match was tied at 5-5 in the tie-breaker in the first set.

At least both women's matches were able to be completed which means the tournament is still relatively on track, although an early start is required on Thursday to make sure both men's Quarter Finals can be completed before the women's Semi Finals take centre stage.

The good news was that Simona Halep managed to make her way through to the Semi Final which means one of my outright picks has returned a winner, but it has been a very difficult tournament all in all. I am a little frustrated with myself for some of my selections, but some poor luck has also played a part in some of the really poor results over the last few days.

On Thursday we will move onto the women's Semi Finals once the remaining men's Quarter Finals have been played and the forecast looks like a full day of play will be possible in Paris.


Sloane Stephens - 2.5 games v Madison Keys: It has been a long time since two American ladies competed against one another for a place in the French Open Final but Sloane Stephens and Madison Keys have taken advantage of an open half of the draw.

That is a slightly harsh assessment of both players who have been in fine form on the clay courts of Paris this past ten days. Both Stephens and Keys have produced some eye catching numbers in their progress through the draw and there should be some real confidence on both sides of the court.

Madison Keys has yet to drop a set in Paris but she wasn't at her best in the Quarter Final win over Yulia Putintseva. The return has been so important for Keys in this tournament but she did not return as well as she would have liked in the Quarter Final and she will recognise how much better she will have to be when she takes on her compatriot on Thursday.

For Sloane Stephens the Quarter Final was a much more routine win for her and she looks to be peaking in a similar way as last September when she found the hot form to carry her to the US Open Grand Slam. To be fair to Stephens she actually played really well in Canada and Cincinnati in preparation for the US Open but even then her success has to be described as a surprise.

The limited success since then means she came into Paris under the radar but Stephens has shown she is very comfortable on the clay and the numbers have backed that up. She finds plenty of power off the ground on the surface, although Stephens will know she has to serve well to make sure she is not allowing Keys to tee off on second serve returns.

I believe Stephens can do that especially if Keys is as loose as she was in her Quarter Final. The Stephens return game will be the key, pardon the pun, to the entire match and I think she has shown she can get her teeth into Keys' service games especially when looking at their head to head.

The US Open Final was surprisingly one sided as nerves consumed Keys, but Stephens also returned well when beating Keys in Miami in 2015 and both times she has been Ranked below her compatriot. I think she will be able to do that in this Semi Final especially if the cooler conditions just take something off the Keys first serve in terms of speed.

I will look for Stephens to continue getting more out of her game as she reaches another Grand Slam Final and I think she wins in a reasonably strong fashion.


Simona Halep v Garbine Muguruza: There are a couple of the players on the WTA Tour who are incredibly dangerous when they suddenly begin to hit their peak form and one of those is Garbine Muguruza. Twelve months ago she was about to go through a mixed grass court season before putting it all together at Wimbledon and winning the Grand Slam title there and there are some similarities with how the French Open has been going for her.

There is no doubt that Muguruza is playing at a very high level and convincing win over Maria Sharapova in the Quarter Final means she goes into the Semi Final very fresh.

It really has come from nowhere when you think Muguruza had some injury issues in Stuttgart and suffered relatively early losses in both the Premier Events of Madrid and Rome. In 2016 Muguruza won the title in Paris which makes her someone to be respected, but the form prior to the French Open has made this a very surprising run.

With that in mind it has to be noted that Muguruza has been a dominant winner in each of her four completed matches to get to the Semi Final. She has been returning aggressively and backing it up with a big serve which has provided plenty of easy points and Muguruza is going to head into this Semi Final as a slight favourite.

Overall the Simona Halep numbers on the clay are more consistent than Muguruza's but the question for the Romanian is how much she can influence this match like she does against so many others. She has been beaten by tall, big serving and aggressive players like Karolina Pliskova and Coco Vandeweghe on the clay this season which has to be a concern for Halep, although both defeats came in much faster conditions than you will get in Paris.

The head to head is also in favour of Muguruza, but Halep has been playing very well on the clay courts and in this tournament while the sole previous match on clay was won by the Romanian.

With the way the two players have been playing over the last eleven days it would be a huge disappointment if this match goes away as quickly as some of the women's matches have done. The feeling is that this match is on the racquet of Muguruza who has the superior power of the two players, but Halep is capable of enough defensive tennis to turn the rallies in her favour.

Nerves are always hard to predict for Halep who has had some really disappointing performances at the back end of Grand Slams throughout her career. She does look a little stronger these days, but Muguruza has the edge having won a couple of Slams and I think Halep is going to need to settle quickly which will give her the chance of reaching another Final in Paris.

Halep's overall clay levels are better than Muguruza's, but I have to respect the latter for the way she has turned on the style at Slams throughout her career. In that regard she does remind of Stan Wawrinka and we know how difficult the Swiss player can be when he gets on a roll in the Grand Slams in recent years.

I do think Halep is going to have to dig deep within herself, but I like her chances on clay in the current conditions and I think she will edge out Muguruza as the narrow underdog.

MY PICKS: Sloane Stephens - 2.5 Games @ 1.83 Sporting Bet (2 Units)
Simona Halep @ 2.00 Bet Victor (2 Units)