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The first twelve team College Football Playoff Bracket will begin on Friday with the First Round games being played across a couple of days....

Friday, 7 June 2024

French Open Tennis Day 13 Picks 2024 (Friday 7th June)

The Women's Final has been set for Saturday and Iga Swiatek has made it through for the fourth time in five years.

She is going to be a strong favourite, but all credit has to be given to Jasmine Paolini for finding her way through the draw and the Italian really has nothing to lose.

Before we get to the Women's Final, two quality looking Men's Semi Final matches have to be completed on Friday and both could go very long. It should also mean a very good Final will be set as we crown a new French Open Champion and potentially begin the next era without members of the Big Three who have achieved so much in the sport.


Carlos Alcaraz-Jannik Sinner Over 38.5 Games: If these two players can stay healthy and the desire never dips, this is a match up that is likely going to be deciding many Grand Slams in the years ahead.

There will be a number of other players preparing to fill the gap that will be left by the Big Three, but Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have won Grand Slams already and they are in the top three of the World Rankings right up there alongside Novak Djokovic.

With the Serb expected to miss at least Wimbledon and potentially the Olympics and US Open, most fans will figure Alcaraz and Sinner to be the leading names to add to the Slams they have already won.

Injury meant both players missed the Rome Masters, and there was some doubt about their participation at the French Open, but the two have been the best players in the tournament.

Carlos Alcaraz started a little slowly, which is not a surprise considering he was slightly concerned about his forearm, but he has grown and grown.

For Jannik Sinner, the new World Number 1, the tournament has largely gone to plan with a single set dropped in his march to the Semi Final.

This is the third Grand Slam meeting between the two with both holding a win apiece, while the two previous clay court matches have also been split. Their only match in 2024 was won by Carlos Alcaraz as he came from behind to beat Jannik Sinner in three sets at the Indian Wells Masters, but there really has not been much between the players and this is a fascinating Semi Final.

Over the course of the French Open, Jannik Sinner has perhaps served slightly better than Carlos Alcaraz, but the Spaniard has had a slight edge when it comes to the return. The new World Number 1 does look a big price to win this Semi Final, but the better approach may be looking for the match to go long.

Previous matches have featured plenty of one-sided sets, despite the obvious qualities that both of these players have.

Tension will be high in this Semi Final which could see something like that happen in one or two sets, but the feeling is that both are playing well enough to make this very competitive and push the match to four or possibly even five sets.

The previous two Grand Slam matches between Alcaraz and Sinner have both needed at least four sets and the feeling is that the likely top two Seeds heading into Wimbledon will be involved in a titanic battle on Friday.


Casper Ruud v Alexander Zverev: Twelve months ago Alexander Zverev returned to the French Open having suffered a serious injury here in 2022, but the expectations were not that high for the German after a mixed return to the Tour. He did reach the Semi Final surprisingly, but Casper Ruud stood in the way and proved to be too strong for Zverev.

They meet again on Friday in another Semi Final, but Alexander Zverev had arrived in Paris as one of the favourites and underlined that position by beating Rafael Nadal in the First Round.

Off court issues continue to cast a cloud over this Alexander Zverev run, but he has been doing what is needed on the court.

The only negative for him from a tennis point of view is the amount of time he has already spent on the court, although it was very important to win the Quarter Final in straight sets. That victory over Alex De Minaur followed back to back five setters and there has to be some fatigue at play.

He did not look at his dominant best in the win over the Australian, but getting off the court in under three hours will have helped the Zverev cause.

This is clearly going to be a tough match for the World Number 4, especially as Casper Ruud has reached consecutive French Open Finals and will have that mental edge of having beaten Zverev in the Semi Final in 2023. The Norwegian also benefits from Novak Djokovic's withdrawal before the Quarter Final and that should mean Casper Ruud is the fresher player having played in Geneva before the French Open began.

In saying all that, Casper Ruud has not really impressed in the tournament and he will need to raise his level against the Rome Masters Champion.

Casper Ruud is going to have to serve better than he has in the last three Rounds, but he will also perhaps have noted that Alexander Zverev's numbers have just dropped, which could be a sign of fatigue.

He is battling and the confidence is much higher than when he wilted against Casper Ruud last year so this will be close, but the tennis has mounted up in the legs and that may just hold Alexander Zverev back as he looks to reach his first French Open Final.

Three straight Semi Final losses in Paris will be hard to forget for the German and Casper Ruud's memories of this Round are much stronger which could see the narrow underdog come through.

MY PICKS: Carlos Alcaraz-Jannik Sinner Over 38.5 Games @ 1.85 Coral (2 Units)
Casper Ruud @ 2.10 Bet Victor (1 Unit)

French Open Update: 20-8, + 14.96 Units (56 Units Staked, + 26.71% Yield)

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