French Open Tennis Day 13 Picks 2026 (Friday 5th June)

The French Open has been one of the more upset-driven Grand Slam tournaments we have seen over the last couple of years and that has made it very difficult to predict.

Both underdogs came through the Women's Semi Final matches on Thursday, but the favourites will be looking for better success when the Men's final four are played on Day 13.

They both look capable, but Jakub Mensik and Matteo Arnaldi will have something to say about that and the Picks from the two matches can be read below.

Jakub Mensik-Alexander Zverev over 37.5 games: The favourites have continued to fall throughout the two weeks at the French Open, but Alexander Zverev has been holding himself together and has been in this position for a number of days now. There is going to be little doubt in the German's camp that Zverev may never have a better chance to break his Grand Slam duck and win the title on Sunday, but it is imperative that all stay focused on the matches as they come.

For so long Alexander Zverev has been chasing a generation including Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, but two have retired and Djokovic looks like his best is finally behind him. Instead of allowing Alexander Zverev and his peers take over the top of the sport, the likes of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have broken through and over the last two years either one or the other has gotten the better of the World Number 3.

None of those players mentioned can stop Alexander Zverev at the 2026 French Open, but he is now fending off another generation of players having beaten a teenager in the Quarter Final and now taking on a 20 year old who has become just the fifth Men's player from his nation to reach a Grand Slam Semi Final.

But that is not enough for Jakub Mensik, who has been touted for the top of the sport ever since he upset Novak Djokovic to win the Miami Masters last year.

Unsurprisingly that also meant a target on Jakub Mensik's back and he has perhaps struggled with that, which has led to him dropping from World Number 12 in March 2025 to World Number 27 ahead of this tournament.

He is going to back up near his career best World Ranking mark at the end of this Grand Slam, but Jakub Mensik has shown plenty of grit and determination to believe he deserves plenty of respect in the Semi Final. No one will be surprised he is the underdog, but Mensik has battled through adversity throughout this tournament and that will have given him a lot of confidence.

Getting past Joao Fonseca in straight sets in the Quarter Final will also be a big help for Jakub Mensik, who looked to be struggling with some physical ailments at various times during that last eight clash. The 20 year old has spent a lot more time on the court compared with Alexander Zverev and you cannot ignore that as a factor, but being in this half of the draw and playing in the Tuesday Quarter Final does mean Jakub Mensik has had two full days of recovery time to prepare physically and mentally.

The players have a recent knowledge of playing one another and on this surface- a few weeks ago, Alexander Zverev beat Jakub Mensik in the Fourth Round at the Madrid Masters, but that was a match that needed a third set decider. Both produced a big serving day, although Alexander Zverev eventually had the edge, and that is going to be a key shot when it comes to the outcome of this Semi Final.

Most will make Alexander Zverev favourite, which is the right choice, but Jakub Mensik has shown he can dig in and produce some very good tennis on this surface.

Another windy day is expected, although not as windy as Wednesday and Thursday, and the match may come down to which of the players can get on the front foot the quickest.

Experience is certainly with Alexander Zverev and that should never be downplayed, but Jakub Mensik could push him hard through the first couple of hours on the court and the younger player can at least win a set.

With both players capable of rolling through service games, this could be a Semi Final that needs at least 38 games to find a winner who will then play for the French Open title on Sunday afternoon in Paris.

Flavio Cobolli - 4.5 games v Matteo Arnaldi: An all-Italian Semi Final that does not feature Jannik Sinner will come as a surprise to those tuning into the French Open on Day 13 of the tournament, but that is no concern to either Matteo Arnaldi or Flavio Cobolli. Both have taken advantage of their compatriot exiting the tournament in the Second Round and opening up the top half of the draw, but credit has to be given to both Arnaldi and Cobolli for making sure they are in this position.

If Alexander Zverev wins the other Semi Final, the winner of this one will be the underdog on Sunday, but that should not be the focus for either player as they look to reach a maiden Grand Slam Final in its own right.

The clay courts will be comfortable for Matteo Arnaldi and Flavio Cobolli and it is going to be another Semi Final where the player who handles the occasion the best is likely going to find a way through. They are very familiar with one another being from the same country, while Matteo Arnaldi being 25 years old and Flavio Cobolli being 24 years old means they have likely known one another for many years.

Being familiar with the opponent should help settle the nerves somewhat and it is going to be the sixth meeting on the Tour with the first of those played back in 2021- Flavio Cobolli won that one before Matteo Arnaldi won three in a row, but it was Cobolli who was the winner again when these two met right here at the French Open last year.

It was a dominant Second Round win for Flavio Cobolli back in May 2025, although the setting around this one will be much different and that has to be a factor.

Despite that, Flavio Cobolli should be the fresher player, which gives him an edge, and he has made much more serene progress through the draw. His overall performances on the Tour have been a bit more convincing compared with Matteo Arnaldi, who was the World Number 36 when they met at Roland Garros last year, but who begun this event outside of the top 100.

Back to back five setters saw Matteo Arnaldi just get himself through some fine margins, but he looked a little fatigued in the Quarter Final- it was Matteo Berrettini who ultimately saw his body let him down and a two hour match abruptly concluded when Berrettini was forced out with an injury.

That will help Arnaldi in his recovery, but this is a much different kind of match against Flavio Cobolli and you have to expect the higher Ranked Italian to have too much for him once again at the French Open.

A battling win over Felix Auger Aliassime means Flavio Cobolli has only dropped two sets in his run to the French Open Semi Final and the conditions should not be as tough as they were on Wednesday.

Nothing will come easy with a spot in a Grand Slam Final on the line, but Flavio Cobolli may eventually wear down Matteo Arnaldi, who has to be feeling all of the tennis he has already played. Expect long rallies to wear down Arnaldi and that could allow Flavio Cobolli to eventually move into the French Open Final with a cover of this handicap mark set.

MY PICKS: Jakub Mensik-Alexander Zverev Over 37.5 Games @ 1.72 Bet Fred (2 Units)

Flavio Cobolli - 4.5 Games @ 1.91 Bet Fred (2 Units)

French Open Update: 26-22, - 1.54 Units (92 Units Staked, - 1% Yield)

French Open Tennis Day 12 Picks 2026 (Thursday 4th June)

The last four of the Women's tournament features plenty of young talent, but there won't be many who would have put a bracket together and come out with these four names.

A big opportunity is now in front of the players with a Grand Slam title to be won, but Aryna Sabalenka has to be kicking herself.

The body language had been pretty negative throughout the match, even when Sabalenka was very much in control, but losing 12 of the last 13 games was a complete capitulation.

It is not the first time the World Number 1 has managed to lose a match at the business end of a Grand Slam and not the first time Aryna Sabalenka has completely collapsed from a strong position. She was pretty downbeat in the press conference after the defeat, which is not a surprise, but it continues to show that the WTA Tour is missing that dominant force and perhaps a reason why Serena Williams is thinking about a comeback.

The former World Number 1 is back in Doubles action next week, but it would surprise no one if she did take a Wild Card into Wimbledon, which begins later in the month. One more Grand Slam is needed to match Novak Djokovic, although it would still take a monumental effort for a 44 year old who is turning 45 in September to be able to put together the kind of run needed to win a Grand Slam.

Serena Williams will be returning with that in mind, if she does indeed return to the Singles court and not just prepare for a shot at the Doubles Olympic Gold at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.

That is something that may give the WTA another shot in the arm, but for now the focus for the four players still playing at Roland Garros is winning a Grand Slam title and moving into the upper tier of the sport in their own right.

Marta Kostyuk - 1.5 games v Mirra Andreeva: There has long been an expectation around Marta Kostyuk and the potential she has, and at 23 years old she looks to finally be making her big breakthrough on the Tour. After getting the better of compatriot Elina Svitolina in the Quarter Final, Marta Kostyuk is moving very close to the top ten in the WTA World Rankings, while she has also reached a maiden Grand Slam Semi Final.

If she wins one more match, Marta Kostyuk will enter the top ten of the World Rankings for the first time, while a French Open title would mean she also becomes the Ukrainian Number One.

Putting together an unbeaten clay court season, which includes a big WTA 1000 title in Madrid, should mean Marta Kostyuk comes into this Semi Final filled with confidence, but it is the younger player in this match up that has the experience edge.

While there has long been an expectation about the kind of successes that Marta Kostyuk could have on a tennis court, Mirra Andreeva has been seen as a future multiple time Grand Slam Champion since the then 17 year old reached the French Open Semi Final in 2024.

The run at the French Open means Mirra Andreeva has reached the Quarter Final four times at Grand Slam level, and three of those have been in Paris- she has converted two of those into Semi Final appearances, including this season, but Mirra Andreeva will have to get the better of an opponent who has beaten her twice already this season, including once in the Madrid Final on a clay court.

There is the issue about the Russia-Ukraine war that has continued to be a feature of the press conferences, but the focus here has to be on the court.

During the run to the Semi Final, Mirra Andreeva has produced the stronger numbers and her crushing win over Sorana Cirstea in the Quarter Final will have given the teenager a huge amount of confidence. She has long been very happy on the clay courts and Andreeva has been involved in very big matches at the French Open in each of the last three editions of this Grand Slam.

Experience is a big edge when it comes to handling the sense of occasion and that is something that Mirra Andreeva will have to try and use.

However, the numbers may be stronger overall in this tournament, but it is Marta Kostyuk who has two top ten wins under her belt and she has definitely had to fight through the tougher path. Doing so, and being unbeaten on the clay in 2026, should mean Marta Kostyuk is not intimidated by the match, but it is all about handling the emotion on the day with so much on the line.

It will be important for her team to try and get Marta Kostyuk to focus on the court, although the war in her home country is going to be on the mind and facing a Russian opponent will make that impossible to ignore.

The current World Number 15 has beaten Mirra Andreeva twice this season and that will be a boost for the confidence.

Tellingly, Marta Kostyuk has been the much stronger player in both matches and has won both in straight sets, including that Madrid Final last month- the clay here plays differently to Madrid, but Kostyuk has proven to be the stronger server in those head to head matches and that could be a key to the outcome of this Semi Final.

Mirra Andreeva is a confident player when the serve is working, but Marta Kostyuk could dip those levels if she is able to get into thos return games as she has previously.

It is Marta Kostyuk who has broken serve at least four times in each match played in Paris and she has broken six times in four of the five wins- this may be the first time she drops a set to Mirra Andreeva with the nerves likely going to play a big impact, but the latter has not reached the Final of a Grand Slam herself and there are still those moments when Andreeva reminds everyone that she is still a very young player and that may be the case on Thursday.

Diana Shnaider - 2.5 games v Maja Chwalinska: The second Grand Slam of the season has been one that has featured upset after upset and you will struggle to find too many people who selected the final four in the Women's event before the French Open began.

At least some sort of case could have been made for Mirra Andreeva and Marta Kostyuk, who make up the other Semi Final, but how many would have predicted Diana Shnaider and Maja Chwalinska to have made their way through the top half?

Both won Quarter Final matches on Wednesday in awfully tough conditions at the tournament- instead of the brutal heat of the first week, both players had to come through windy conditions that made it very difficult to control the ball, but both Shnaider and Chwalinska deserve a lot of credit for beating higher Ranked players.

There is a real storyline around both players too- Maja Chwalinska has won eight matches to reach the French Open Semi Final having begun her tournament in the Qualifying Rounds. She began her run outside of the top 100 in the World Rankings, but Chwalinska is set to earn a top 30 Ranking going forward and that means the next twelve months will be an opportunity to play in the biggest tournaments on the Tour.

For Diana Shnaider, the clay court season had been a difficult one as she struggled to mix it with the best players on the Tour, but back to back wins over Grand Slam Champions will have given her a whole heap of confidence. Those two wins over Madison Keys and Aryna Sabalenka have come in three sets and Diana Shnaider has come through the final set decider in each match without dropping a game, and that will have given the World Number 23 plenty of belief in her own tennis.

The comeback against Aryna Sabalenka from 6-3, 4-1, 30/0 behind is a huge moment for Diana Shnaider and now it is all about recovery, more mentally than physically.

Nerves are going to be a huge feature of this match with a Grand Slam Final place on the line and that does make it that much tougher to predict.

On paper you have to give the edge to Diana Shnaider who has had a solid record on the clay over the last couple of years and while competing at a high level.

Nothing is wrong with the Maja Chwalinska numbers, but the 24 year old has played in Challenger level events, which is backed up by her World Ranking, while she has not beaten a top 20 Ranked player yet in the tournament. At the end of this tournament, Diana Shnaider will be a top 20 Ranked player again and the younger of the two left-handed players has also beaten Maja Chwalinska on the clay before, albeit back in 2022 when Shnaider was making her way up the levels.

An early injury has perhaps held Maja Chwalinska back, but this run has still come out of left field considering what has been produced in the build up to the French Open- the numbers have bene strong enough, but those had come about at a much lower level than the main Tour events, and even then the Pole had a 10-5 record.

It is a run that will have some thinking back to 2021 when Emma Raducanu came through Qualifiers to then go on and win the US Open- more recently, Dayana Yastremska came through Qualifying and eventually reached the Australian Open Semi Final in 2024, but the latter of those players had more Grand Slam experience than Maja Chwalinska, who is taking part in just her third main draw appearance at a Major.

People are comparing it more to the Raducanu run, and this is likely going to be a match that features a lot of Breaks of serve.

Wind is going to be a real problem again on Thursday, especially with the roof likely to be open if the thunderstorms of early in the day are not expected to return. That does make it tougher with the nerves and emotions already pretty high for both players and it could come down to who can handle the conditions best when the pressure builds up.

The edge has to be with Diana Shnaider considering her experience of playing in bigger events, while she has looked the slightly more consistent return player and that may see her earn one or two more Breaks than Maja Chwalinska in this surprising Semi Final at the French Open.

MY PICKS: Marta Kostyuk - 1.5 Games @ 1.87 Bet Victor (2 Units)

Diana Shnaider - 2.5 Games @ 1.72 Bet Fred (2 Units)

French Open Update: 26-20, + 2.46 Units (88 Units Staked, + 2.80% Yield)

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

French Open Tennis Day 10 Picks 2024 (Tuesday 4th June)

There have been some fair criticisms of the scheduling of the French Open, but the weather has really not played ball with the organisers.

What has been a positive is the standard of matches we have seen through the first nine days at the tournament.

We saw more of that on Day 9 as Novak Djokovic fought back from 2-1 down in sets to earn yet another Quarter Final spot at a Grand Slam event. Following that was a really good match between Alexander Zverev and Holger Rune for the Night Session crowd and hopefully there is more top quality tennis for the fans to enjoy in the days ahead.

Coco Gauff - 4.5 games v Ons Jabeur: Winning a Grand Slam means everything to those starting on the professional tennis tour and Ons Jabeur has made no secret of her desire to win one of her own. She reached three Grand Slam Finals between 2022 and 2023, but came up short each time, and the window is most definitely closing.

Wimbledon may prove to be her best chance with so many players uncertain about playing on the grass and Ons Jabeur reaching the last two Finals in SW19, although the defeat to Marketa Vondrousova last year has had a big impact on her tennis.

However, Ons Jabeur has matched her best run at Roland Garros by reaching the Quarter Final here for the second year in a row and that despite dropping down to World Number 9. These days there are four players who look to have moved clear of the rest of the pack and Jabeur will likely have to beat three of them if she is going to win the title here next Saturday.

First up is Coco Gauff, the US Open Champion and a player who has reached the Quarter Final at Roland Garros for the fourth time in a row. Despite making her breakthrough on the Tour at Wimbledon, the American World Number 3 has produced her most consistent Grand Slam results in Paris, which may come as a surprise.

On the other hand, watching Gauff play on the red dirt and it becomes very easy to understand why she is so effective on this surface.

Beating Iga Swiatek remains the biggest challenge for any player on this surface, but Coco Gauff has shown she can handle most other challengers very effectively. She has barely broken a sweat to move through the four Rounds played at the 2024 French Open and it says something about Coco Gauff that the last three defeats at Roland Garros have all been to the eventual Champion (Barbora Krejcikova and Iga Swiatek twice).

Ons Jabeur has only dropped one set of her own during this four match winning run, but her numbers prior to the French Open were pretty average and this is a big step up.

The expectation is that Jabeur will pick up more than a single game as she did when being crushed by Coco Gauff in the WTA Finals at the end of last year, but it also should be noted that the Tunisian only managed four games in a routine defeat to this opponent at Roland Garros in 2021. The improvements made by Coco Gauff since then makes her more dangerous and the feeling is that she will be able to come through this match with another strong win.

Iga Swiatek - 6.5 games v Marketa Vondrousova: The defending French Open and defending Wimbledon Champions meet in the Quarter Final at Roland Garros in 2024 and the layers have Iga Swiatek down as a big favourite.

That may be harsh on Marketa Vondrousova, who is a former Finalist in Paris, but there is no doubt that this is a massive challenge for the player who will be opening up Centre Court on Day 2 of the Wimbledon Championships in July.

During this tournament, we have managed to back Vondrousova a couple of times with solid returns, and that underlines her qualities on the clay courts. She is a good player, one that moves well enough and can cause problems with her groundstrokes, but it has also been a kind draw for the Czech player to exploit and that all changes massively on Tuesday.

This time she has to play the two time defending Champion Iga Swiatek who has recovered from almost losing to Naomi Osaka in the Second Round exactly how you would come to expect. In her last two wins, Swiatek has not needed to spend any significant time on the court and has dropped just six games having faced a Match Point in her eventual win over Osaka.

Sixteen straight wins on the clay courts means Iga Swiatek will arrive with a lot of confidence whenever she feels the red dirt under her feet.

She will be extremely happy on the main court in Roland Garros and the World Number 1 has been able to dominate opponents on this surface.

To add to that aura, Iga Swiatek will begin this match knowing she has won all three professional matches against Marketa Vondrousova and all relatively comfortably. There were two strong hard court wins over the lefty last year after a competitive first set, but this surface is one where Swiatek should have more of an edge and she can find the breaks of serve needed to cover this big line.

Jannik Sinner - 5.5 games v Grigor Dimitrov: The potential of winning a Grand Slam has not been realised by Grigor Dimitrov so far in his career, but there may be an opportunity to do something special in 2024.

However, you would have certainly placed the French Open at the bottom of the Grand Slam pile when it came to ranking the likelihood of the Bulgarian winning one of the four tournaments played.

2024 is the first time in his career that Grigor Dimitrov has made it into the Quarter Final at the French Open and it is a surprising run considering the inconsistent results in the build up to the tournament. The win over Hubert Hurkacz in the last Round is a solid one, but even the strongest of Dimitrov fans will accept that their player has made use of a very good section of the draw.

That is the benefit of being a top ten Seed in the tournament, but this is now a big step up for Dimitrov when he faces Jannik Sinner.

The Italian has not had much tennis under the legs after picking up a hip injury in Madrid which meant missing a home tournament in Rome. It meant Jannik Sinner arrived in Paris under a cloud of doubt, but he has held up pretty well even if his preparation was perhaps not as it should have been.

There is still a chance that Jannik Sinner will leave Paris as the new World Number 1, but the focus will be on picking up a second Grand Slam title having beaten Daniil Medvedev in Melbourne. Jannik Sinner reached the French Open Quarter Final on debut in 2020, but has not made it back this far until doing so this year and that is perhaps a real surprise considering how well he can play on the red dirt.

He had some troubles in the Fourth Round win, but that may actually have hardened Sinner for the business end of the tournament and this has proven to be a good match up for him in recent meetings with Grigor Dimitrov.

It was the Bulgarian that won their only previous meeting on a clay court in 2020, but Jannik Sinner has won the last three in a row and all on the hard courts where Dimitrov would have felt more comfortable than on this surface. In those three wins, Sinner has dominated behind serve and managed to keep the pressure on Grigor Dimitrov and this is how this Quarter Final may end up being played out.

The World Number 10 is playing well enough to perhaps edge a set, but Jannik Sinner may end up breaking him down and that may see him dominate one or two sets in order to clear this handicap mark.

Carlos Alcaraz - 5.5 games v Stefanos Tsitsipas: With Novak Djokovic struggling for form and both the World Number 2 and Number 3 clouded by injury concerns, Stefanos Tsitsipas has to have arrived in Paris feeling like a first Grand Slam could be earned.

He has been close- he has reached four Grand Slam Semi Finals and two Grand Slam Finals, but the Greek player has ultimately come up short. However, his best results have tended to be in the first half of the season and Stefanos Tsitsipas will be playing in his fourth French Open Quarter Final in five years.

One defeat from the previous three will give Tsitsipas confidence, although that one defeat came against the player who will be standing across the net from him on Tuesday.

Carlos Alcaraz was beaten in Madrid and had to miss Rome with a forearm issue, but he did find a way to be involved here at the French Open. The defending Wimbledon Champion will hold this Grand Slam very dear to the heart, as it is for many Spanish players, and he is playing in his third straight Quarter Final here.

Last year he looked to have all of the momentum against Novak Djokovic until being hit by severe cramps and barely being able to move and Carlos Alcaraz admitted feeling 'scared' early in this tournament with the forearm at the forefront of the mind.

That was perhaps evident in his Second Round win, but the World Number 3 is playing with a lot more confidence now and this has been a match up where he has been incredibly successful.

Stefanos Tsitsipas is trying to be more aggressive on the backhand, but it is an area that Carlos Alcaraz has exploited in previous matches and the latter will be looking to make it six wins in a row against the Greek player. The previous five wins have included three wins on the clay courts and the numbers in those matches heavily lean towards Carlos Alcaraz, which underlines the feeling that this is a good match up for him and he has the ability to negate the early Tsitsipas aggression and force mistakes and short balls from the other side of the net.

The forearm issue does raise some doubts, but Carlos Alcaraz looks quite healthy and he can find the big points at the big moments to come through with a strong win in this Quarter Final.

MY PICKS: Coco Gauff - 4.5 Games @ 1.72 Coral (2 Units)

Iga Swiatek - 6.5 Games @ 1.83 Bet Victor (2 Units)

Jannik Sinner - 5.5 Games @ 1.80 Coral (2 Units)

Carlos Alcaraz - 5.5 Games @ 1.83 Bet Victor (2 Units)

French Open Update: 14-5, + 11.66 Units (38 Units Staked, + 30.68% Yield)

Boxing Picks 2022- George Kambosos Jr vs Devin Haney (June 4th)

You have to give Rolando Romero for making a fight of it, but Gervonta Davis always looked like he had gotten control of their fight by the Fourth or Fifth Round.

The big shot to finish the job in the Sixth Round came at a surprising time as it still felt like Davis was breaking down his opponent and trying to bring him onto something, while any calls for a rematch look unlikely to be answered.

Gervonta Davis is a quality fighter, but his promotional team looks to be changing and it could mean we are set to see him in some huge fights in the months and years ahead. In a loaded Division and one that is pretty deep above at 140, Gervonta Davis looks to have options.

His own Division will become clearer by Saturday night when the Unification between George Kambosos Jr and Devin Haney meet in Australia, although the rematch clause in favour of the current Undisputed Champion means the belts could tied up between the two over the remainder of 2022.

That may mean the other top talents in the Lightweight Division have to face one another to position themselves for the big World Title shots next year, but there are so many top fights to be made that the fans should be the only winners.

George Kambosos Jr v Devin Haney

The deserved upset win over Teofimo Lopez has made George Kambosos Jr the King of the Lightweight Division and he has to be the most surprising name to top the Division.

There is so much talent around in this weight class, but the likeable Australian hadn't really fought anyone of tremendous note before the upset of Lopez.

A big question is how much was Teofimo Lopez affected by issues outside of the ring and what kind of factor was that to the outcome of the bout? George Kambosos Jr has to be given credit for fighting a very good fight and deserving his win, but it does feel like he may have taken advantage of a situation.

It is partly why he is the underdog going into this Undisputed bout against Devin Haney, who will have his father ringside at the very least after all the drama of Bill being refused entry into Australia.

That is one issue that Devin Haney has to have overcome mentally rather than physically, while the barbs thrown at him from George Kambosos Jr and his team are designed to get under his skin. The Dream is on the road for this big fight too, but I do think he could take advantage of Teofimo Lopez' slip up and beat a Champion that is perhaps not in a position he should be.

I am not being disrespectful to George Kambosos Jr when I say that, but I do think he was in a perfect position to take advantage of Lopez and the situation he had been in outside of the ring. This time that factor should not be at play, even with the drama surrounding Bill Haney's entry into Australia, and I do think Devin Haney is going to have the edge with his attributes.

George Kambosos Jr will be looking to be aggressive and push the action and I do think it could give him a chance to pick up some Rounds at home where the Australian judging was questioned after Jeff Horn's upset of Manny Pacquiao. That has worried me and I don't think Devin Haney is going to have enough pop to stop George Kambosos Jr, but the younger fighter should have the length and boxing skills to rack up the points.

Of course the crowd are going to be firmly behind their home Champion and anything he does is going to earn a big reaction from them, which can sway the judges.

However, I do think Devin Haney is not going to be dragged into the same kind of fight as Teofimo Lopez and instead will look to use his length and skills to keep George Kambosos Jr at bay.

There are questions about Haney's ability to take a big shot, but I am not sure George Kambosos Jr has the power to really test that consistently and the American can do enough to win Seven Rounds on the cards to a Decision victory.

The Moloney brothers are both on the undercard of this huge event in Australia and I do think both are likely going to be good enough to win on the cards.

The layers sense the same and there isn't much in the prices to offer encouragement or excitement.

A Heavyweight derby is also on the undercard with Junior Fa returning after losing to compatriot Joseph Parker in February 2021.

He faces former Australian World Heavyweight Champion Lucas Browne, but the latter is nowhere near the force he once was. Dave Allen beat him in Three Rounds and it has been fourteen months since Lucas Browne was stopped in the First Round by Paul Gallen.

That does mean Lucas Browne has been in action twice since Junior Fa last fought, but the former doesn't have much left in the tank. Junior Fa has not really impressed since he has stepped up his level, but he did better than expected in the loss to Joseph Parker and I do think Fa may have more left in the tank than Lucas Browne.

Junior Fa has won nineteen fights and ten of those have come inside the distance- of those, eight have ended in the First Round and I do think he could remove Lucas Browne very early in this one too.

There are other World Title fights on Saturday even if the majority of the headlines are being eaten up by the big Lightweight Unification.

In Britain, Joe Cordina is going to try and win a World Title many tipped him up for ever since turning pro following the Rio Olympics.

He has been built the right way, but this still feels a big step up against veteran Champion Kenichi Ogawa who was last seen crushing Azinga Fuzile at the back end of 2021. You never know when a fighter may turn old overnight, but I do think the pressure of Ogawa is going to put Joe Cordina through the ringer more than any other fighter has been able to do.

Early on Joe Cordina could be winning the Rounds, but the pressure of Kenichi Ogawa may be too much for the home fighter to take. With power that carries, I think Ogawa may be able to break down Cordina in front of his own fans and a second half stoppage has to be worth a small interest.

Stephen Fulton and Daniel Roman are in the main event on another card opposing the George Kambosos Jr and Devin Haney bout, but it is a very good fight on its own.

The former looks most likely to show off enough skills to win on the cards, although the layers are well on top of that.

Instead the Boxing Pick for me from this card comes on the undercard when David Morrell continues his path towards the very top of the Super-Middleweight Division.

The Cuban Southpaw takes on Kalvin Henderson, who has not really fought at this kind of level, and I do think David Morrell will have too much for the opponent again.

Only one fighter has been able to hear the bell for the Fifth Round against David Morrell, but I am not sure Kalvin Henderson has the pedigree to hold off an opponent looking to make a statement to the rest of the 168 pounders in the Division.

MY PICKS: Devin Haney to Win by Decision/Technical Decision @ 2.05 Bet365 (2 Units)

Junior Fa to Win Between 1-2 @ 4.50 Sky Bet (1 Unit)

Kenichi Ogawa to Win Between 7-12 @ 6.50 Sky Bet (1 Unit)

David Morrell to Win Between 1-6 @ 1.72 Sky Bet (2 Units)

Boxing Picks 2022: 18-30, + 16.26 Units (87 Units Staked, + 18.69% Yield)

French Open Tennis Day 14 Pick 2022- Women's Final (June 4th)

The second Grand Slam of the season is going to come to a close this weekend and the two Finals have been set.

Two favourites are facing a couple of outsiders over the weekend, but I think there is potential in the matches before the short run towards Wimbledon begins.

Iga Swiatek - 5.5 games v Cori Gauff: The two most deserving players have reached the French Open Final in the Women's tournament in Paris and I do think it has real potential of being one of the more competitive Finals of recent seasons.

Much is going to depend on how Cori Gauff handles her first Grand Slam Final.

The young American is still only 18 years old even though it feels like Cori Gauff has been around for a long time already. She has not really had the impact at the Grand Slam level that she would have liked after breaking onto the scene with a run to the Fourth Round at Wimbledon in 2019, but the former Junior Champion at Roland Garros has had her best two runs here.

Before this run to the Final, Cori Gauff had reached the Quarter Final in Paris in 2020 and I do think the experiences are going to make her dangerous at Wimbledon and the US Open. However, Cori Gauff will be fully focused on trying to win a maiden Grand Slam and may feel she has nothing to lose after overachieving this fortnight.

Now the biggest challenge awaits Gauff as she prepares to take on Iga Swiatek- the World Number 1 has continued to dominate all that have been put in front of her and players are struggling to win sets against her, let alone matches.

There has been a consistency to her tennis since winning the French Open in 2020 with Iga Swiatek reaching the Fourth Round or better in each of her last six Grand Slam appearances. In saying that, the Polish player will be the first to admit that she needs to start adding Slam titles to her resume to really underline her place as the top female player in the world.

Iga Swiatek has really served well in the tournament, although I do think Cori Gauff has the return to really test her here. In their head to heads, Cori Gauff has not really been able to get into the return as well as she would have liked though and I do think it puts pressure on the American's serve against one of the stronger return players on the Tour.

The breaks earned by Cori Gauff in this tournament certainly makes this number of games appealing on the handicap, but Iga Swiatek has been dominant. Even one competitive set may not be enough for the younger player to keep this one close if Iga Swiatek is able to return as well as she has at Roland Garros and I do think Gauff will be tested on the return more than she has.

The World Number 1 crushed Cori Gauff in straight sets when these two met in Miami earlier this season, while the likes of Daria Kasatkina, Simona Halep and Maria Sakkari were pretty clear winners over Gauff in tournaments played on the clay this season.

It certainly has me leaning towards Iga Swiatek who has the vastly superior clay court numbers of the two players overall in 2022 and also here at the French Open.

Cori Gauff will have to deal with the nerves of a maiden Grand Slam Final and I think it could be a real learning experience for a player that is likely going to win multiple Slams in the years ahead. The first may have to wait a little longer though and I can see Iga Swiatek pulling clear as the pressure is ramped up on Gauff.

MY PICKS: Iga Swiatek - 5 5 Games @ 1.80 Bet365 (2 Units)

French Open Update: 53-54, - 11.17 Units (212 Units Staked, - 5.27% Yield)

French Open Tennis Day 6 Picks 2021 (June 4th)

The French Open continues on Friday and we are into the Third Round action in both the Men's and Women's Tournaments being played in Paris.

The bottom halves of the draw may not house the favourite to win the titles next weekend, but I do think there are plenty of players involved that will feel they can go all the way.

The deeper we go into the French Open draw, the more competitive matches we tend to see and it could be a solid day of Tennis for the viewers.

Casper Ruud - 5.5 games v Alejandro Davidovich Fokina: A big opportunity has opened up for those players in the bottom half of the draw and someone is going to be playing in their first French Open Final a week on Sunday. The exit of Dominic Thiem in the First Round has been the key to that and the way the draw shaped out the two big favourites to win the title in Paris are both on the other side of the bracket.

There are a couple of other players who would really believe they can go all the way here, but one of the stand out names in the bottom half of the draw is Casper Ruud. The young Norwegian player has long produced his best tennis on the red dirt, but 2021 has been special up to this point with a title won in Geneva and two Semi Final runs in Monte Carlo and Madrid behind him.

Casper Ruud has continued the good form into the French Open and has been a relatively comfortable winner in both matches played so far this week. He seems to be enjoying the conditions and Ruud is capable of using his strong serving to build pressure on opponents and in the early Rounds of a Grand Slam it should be good enough for Casper Ruud to progress through to the second week.

He did that for the first time at the Australian Open earlier this season and I think that should mean Casper Ruud is capable of dealing with the pressure as the Grand Slam continues on Friday with the start of the Third Round. Playing against someone like Alejandro Davidovich Fokina is another challenge for Ruud with the Spanish player having a career best year so far as he has entered the top 50 of the World Rankings.

A tough Second Round win for Alejandro Davidovich Fokina may have sapped some of the energy that he will need for a match like this one, but it is early enough in the Slam to expect him to be ready to compete. He has been building a solid clay court season in 2021 and Davidovich Fokina has the return game that may give Casper Ruud something to think about, although the numbers have been dented a little bit when the Spaniard has faced a top 50 Ranked opponent on the clay.

This won't be an easy match for Casper Ruud, but you do have to think that he will be able to control enough rallies behind his own serve to put pressure on Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. The serve has been a key weapon for Ruud and he has an edge over Davidovich Fokina in that area of his tennis which is where he can perhaps find a way to win this match and move clear over the two and a half hours they are likely to spend on court.

The Casper Ruud return game has been strong when facing those players outside the top 20 of the World Rankings on this surface in 2021 and I expect that to show up here.

Fabio Fognini - 1.5 sets v Federico Delbonis: For a long time the Italian hopes would have rested heavily on the shoulders of Fabio Fognini, but the feeling is that the veteran can play his tennis much freer these days. The likes of Matteo Berrettini, Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti have earned some valuable headlines already this season and are the current and future of Italian tennis, but that should mean good news for Fabio Fognini.

He has been a comfortable winner in his first two matches and Fognini has yet to drop a set in Paris, but his tennis in 2021 has been inconsistent on the red dirt. That has prevented Fabio Fognini from really having the kind of impact he would have liked in any of the tournaments he has played, but the two wins here at the French Open have been impressive.

The feeling is that Fabio Fognini is performing well enough here to give Federico Delbonis plenty to think about and you can see why the older player is the favourite.

Federico Delbonis needed four sets to get past Radu Albot in the First Round, but was then pushed the distance by Pablo Andujar in the Second Round and the Argentinian needed to win the last two sets to progress to the Third Round. This has already been the best run Delbonis has had at the French Open, which is a surprise for someone who has always appreciated playing on the clay courts, while he will be playing in the Third Round for only the second time in his career and for the first time since the Australian Open in January 2016.

You can't discount the breakthrough tournament Federico Delbonis had at the Rome Masters last month when reaching the Quarter Final, but his lack of experience of winning big matches at Grand Slams and prolonging his stay in those tournaments is hard to ignore.

He has been beaten twice at Grand Slams by Fabio Fognini including here in Paris in 2019, although Federico Delbonis did beat Fabio Fognini in a Davis Cup tie on this surface.

Matches between the players have tended to be pretty competitive and the 4-3 lead for the Italian underlines the point, although he has won the last two against Delbonis. There have been slight edges for Fabio Fognini in those previous matches though and the feeling is that the Italian is fresher than his opponent in this one which can help him edge past Federico Delbonis in three or four sets.

I expect to see plenty of break points being created by both players and it will come down to the very small moments when those key points are played. Two years ago Fabio Fognini won those key points in a Second Round win here over Federico Delbonis and I think he has played well enough over the last week to think he can match that victory in 2021 too.

Alexander Zverev - 6.5 games v Laslo Djere: One of the big criticisms of Alexander Zverev has been his inability to really make 'easy' work of his early opponents in Grand Slams and it has largely resulted in him being very vulnerable in the second week of those Slams. He has reached the Final at the US Open last year, but Alexander Zverev has not been able to get past the Quarter Final in Paris despite what has been some confident results on the clay courts.

The same criticism can be hurled towards Zverev this season too having been pushed in both of his first two matches at the French Open, although it was very important for him to win the second of those in straight sets. In fact Alexander Zverev has won six sets in a row at the French Open without really looking in control to the level he would have liked.

Some of the reason for that may have been the opponents Alexander Zverev has faced and perhaps not taking them as seriously as he should have done. His own level will have to improve if the German is going to come through what looks an open bottom half of the draw, but I think Alexander Zverev will appreciate facing an opponent who he will know more about than he perhaps did about his last two here.

Laslo Djere had to come from 0-2 down in sets to see off his compatriot Miomir Kecmanovic in the Second Round and he has spent plenty of time on the courts already in Paris. In face the Serb has been on the court for over eight hours and you do have to wonder how much he will have left in the tank both physically and emotionally if he was to fall behind in this match and have to find the reserves to fight back against a higher Ranked opponent.

The wins are confidence boosting for Laslo Djere who reached the Final in Cagliari a couple of months ago before losing five matches in a row. He played well in Geneva, but it has been a challenge for Djere when he has gone up against top 50 Ranked opponents on the clay in 2021 and I do think he could find it tough to stay with Alexander Zverev in this Third Round match.

These two played a competitive, fun match against one another on the hard courts of Acapulco back in March, but Zverev came out as a relatively comfortable winner and I think this may be his most 'straight forward' win in the tournament so far.

Laslo Djere should be competitive early, but I would not be surprised if fatigue kicks in if he falls a set or two behind and that may see Alexander Zverev pull clear.

Cristian Garin - 5.5 games v Marcos Giron: The numbers behind Cristian Garin's season on the clay courts have actually been pretty decent, but this is one player that has a habit of being dragged into tougher matches than he perhaps should be. That has been the case at the French Open over the last week with Garin spending well over seven hours on the court to win his two matches despite being a solid favourite in both.

He needed four sets to win in the First Round having dropped the first set, but Cristian Garin had to dig much deeper in the Second Round when finding himself 0-2 down in sets to Mackenzie McDonald. A third set Tie-Breaker was won by the Chilean and he then needed to showcase some strong mentality to win the match 8-6 in the final set and the big question for Cristian Garin is how much energy he has replenished in the one day rest between matches.

This is a player who has been a decent enough server and Garin has backed it up with some decent return numbers, but he can be a little erratic with his play and that means needing more time to win matches. Cristian Garin has already matched his Third Round run at the French Open from 2020 by reaching the same stage again, but he is looking for a breakthrough in reaching the second week of a Grand Slam for the first time.

Cristian Garin will go into this match as the favourite when taking on Marcos Giron who has perhaps benefited from a little fortune already in this tournament. He was 0-2 down in sets to Grigor Dimitrov before the Bulgarian struggled with his fitness and had to pull out of the match in the fourth set, while Marcos Giron was stronger in the Second Round against Guido Pella.

However, it should be noted that Pella has been struggling for form before this tournament began, although I still thought he would be good enough to avoid the upset. Marcos Giron has not played badly on the clay courts, but the American has struggled to look after his serve on the red dirt and that has put plenty of pressure on his return game.

I do think Giron will cause some problems for Garin, but the American has spent plenty of time on the court himself already in Paris. The opening couple of sets could be really competitive, but that is when Cristian Garin should be able to begin to take control of the match and the tempo of the rallies and I think that helps him reach the second week of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career as a Singles player.

MY PICKS: Casper Ruud - 5.5 Games @ 1.80 Paddy Power (2 Units)

Fabio Fognini - 1.5 Sets @ 2.10 Paddy Power (2 Units)

Alexander Zverev - 6.5 Games @ 1.72 Bet365 (2 Units)

Cristian Garin - 5.5 Games @ 1.80 Paddy Power (2 Units)

Reilly Opelka-Daniil Medvedev Over 38.5 Total Games @ 2.05 Coral (2 Units)

Stefanos Tsitsipas Win 3-0 @ 2.00 Paddy Power (2 Units)

Aryna Sabalenka - 5.5 Games @ 2.00 Bet365 (2 Units)

Tamara Zidansek - 1.5 Games @ 1.91 Bet Fred (2 Units)

Victoria Azarenka - 2.5 Games @ 1.80 Bet Fred (2 Units)

Paula Badosa - 5.5 Games @ 1.85 Bet Victor (2 Units)

Serena Williams - 2.5 Games @ 1.91 Coral (2 Units)

French Open Update: 23-22, - 3.36 Units (90 Units Staked, - 3.73% Yield)

French Open Tennis Day 10 Picks 2019 (June 4th)

The last few days have seen plenty of winners produced on these pages for the French Open and there is every chance a positive number will come out of the second Grand Slam of the 2019 season.

Grass court tennis has also begun this week and the majority of the Tour will be making plans to move to those events that will get going at the end of the French Open.

Before those events begin we are down to the final eight players in both the men's and women's events being played in Paris. The weather does not look very appealing on Tuesday which could mean plenty of delays during the matches that are set scheduled to be completed and I would not be surprised if at least one of those has to be pushed back until Wednesday when the top half of the Quarter Final line up are set to be completed.


You can read my Picks from the Quarter Final matches to be played on Tuesday below. I have also updated the French Open record.


Johanna Konta v Sloane Stephens: Both Sloane Stephens and Johanna Konta have peaked inside the top five of the World Rankings, but there is no disputing the fact that the American has been the superior Grand Slam performer. Sloane Stephens is trying to reach a third Grand Slam Final this week having been a Runner Up in Paris last year and previously won the US Open, while Johanna Konta's best successes have been a couple of Semi Final runs at this level.

While I have to say that Stephens has been the better performer at the Grand Slam level, Konta is not inexperienced and I am going to back the underdog to come through this Quarter Final.

There is not really much between these players, but Konta has gotten on a roll on the clay courts and her performances in Paris have just edge out the ones that Stephens has produced. Both have been pretty consistent, but the superior serving numbers are with Konta and I do think that can make the difference in what is expected to be a really tight match.

We all know that Stephens can be an exceptional returner with her ability to blunt the power that the opponents throw at her and the movement around the court making her a very strong defender. It is no surprise she has the more consistent returning numbers of the pair, but her own serve can be vulnerable at times and Konta also holds the mental edge having won their two previous matches including a three set win in Rome in the last big tournament before the French Open began.

I do still have some doubts about Konta's ability on the clay courts when you think she had not won a match in Paris before the 2019 edition of the French Open. However she seems to be erasing those doubts in each passing match as Konta has continued to get plenty out of the serve and follow it up with some strong returning numbers.

I am expecting twists and turns in this Quarter Final and I would not be surprised if there are loads of break points and both players convert a fair few of those too. Once Sloane Stephens gets to this stage of any tournament I do think the American is very difficult to stop and I have the utmost respect for the kind of tennis she can produce at the business ends of the big tournaments.

There will be moments when Stephens gets on a roll, but Johanna Konta is full of confidence and she looks to have the slight edge with the level of performance she has produced at Roland Garros. The win in Rome should hold her in good stead too and I will back the underdog to take her spot in the Semi Final later this week.


Petra Martic v Marketa Vondrousova: Over the course of this tournament Marketa Vondrousova has been a player that has been very good to me with three straight winners produced by backing her. It might be foolish to jump off the bandwagon with that in mind, but I think Vondrousova is in for her toughest test in the French Open when she faces in-form Petra Martic in this Quarter Final.

Both players are having to deal with a new situation as they have made the Quarter Final of a Grand Slam for the first time and nerves could really play a big factor in this one. Neither player will want to get off to a slow start and the hardest thing is to work out if either is going to be riddled with nerves to the point where they fail to perform.

Marketa Vondrousova has been very good throughout the opening ten days at the French Open with four very easy wins being put together. The young Czech player is yet to drop a set and the longest time she has spent on court during one match is just under an hour and a half so there should be no issues at all with her conditioning.

The same can be said for Petra Martic despite dropping her first set of the tournament in her win over Kaia Kanepi in the Fourth Round. That was the longest time she has spent on the court, but Martic has only been on the court for under six hours to get through four Rounds herself, although one concern is that the level of performance has just been declining in each passing Round through the last three matches.

It is not that surprising with the improved quality of opponent, but Vondrousova's numbers have been more eye catching of the two.

However I do think Vondrousova has something to prove in this match too having had her difficulties when playing top 50 Ranked opponents on the clay in the lead up to the French Open. She has improved to 7-2 in those matches, but Vondrousova has seen her numbers come down significantly to the point where you could argue she has only been a point or two away from having a much, much different record.

The win over Anastasija Sevastova in the Fourth Round had much to do with the energy spent by the Latvian in the Third Round, but Vondrousova was pushed by Carla Suarez Navarro in Paris. She won a couple of matches against top 50 Ranked players in Rome in which she had actually won fewer points and Petra Martic also holds a huge mental edge of having won all four matches these two have played against each other since January 2018.

The last of those came on the clay courts in the Istanbul Final at the end of April as Martic recovered from a poor opening set to come through in a three set win. Marketa Vondrousova has gotten closer and closer to beating Martic in each passing match and my finally get over the hump here, but the veteran Croatian is playing strong tennis on the clay courts and I do think she has enough about her to win this as an underdog.

This is another Quarter Final in which I would expect twists and turns as both players earn their break point chances and I don't think there will be a lot between them. I expected it to be much closer to a pick 'em call and the Petra Martic price is appealing enough to be backed.


Roger Federer - 4.5 games v Stan Wawrinka: Switzerland is guaranteed to have one Semi Finalist in the French Open Singles in 2019 as Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka get set to renew hostilities for a twenty-sixth time in the professional ranks.

It is Roger Federer who has dominated the head to head with a 22-3 record in his favour, but there is some intrigue surrounding this match if only because of the surface on which it is being played. In clay court matches Federer does lead the head to head with Stan Wawrinka, but that lead is only 4-3 and it was Wawrinka who beat Federer in his last appearance at Roland Garros in June 2015.

In that year it was a Stan Wawrinka straight sets win in the Quarter Final of the French Open and I do think the surface gives him every chance of the upset on Tuesday. However I also believe Wawrinka is going to have to raise his level somewhat from what he has produced here in Paris as well as in the lead up to the French Open on the clay courts.

Wawrinka was very fortunate to win the Fourth Round match against Stefanos Tsitsipas and he is going to have a very strong serving day to have a chance of winning this one. So far in this tournament the serve has been effective, but it is going to be very difficult to keep the level as high as it is, while Stan Wawrinka can't be expected to fend off as many break points as he did in the Fourth Round.

His chances won't have been helped much by having spent over five hours on court in the win over Tsitsipas and now he is facing an opponent who has made comfortable progress through the draw and who has been playing at a high level throughout the ten days in Paris.

Roger Federer will be the first to tell you that the level of opponents don't really come close to what Stan Wawrinka can produce on a clay court, but I expect the former World Number 1 to be very fresh. His serve has continued to be a vital part of the game for Federer and the slightly limited returning of Wawrinka that we have seen throughout the clay court season is not really going to cut it.

Importantly for Federer his return game looks to be in good nick here too and he can take advantage of any lingering fatigue Wawrinka could be feeling here. The huge emotional and physical effort put into the win over Stefanos Tsitsipas can't be ignored and I think Federer is going to have too much for his compatriot in three or four sets.

This is a big spread if Wawrinka is feeling close to 100%, but I can't see that being the case. While the serve has been huge for Wawrinka so far in Paris, I think the potential returning struggles could heap a lot of pressure on him on that side of his game and it will see Federer take his chances and produce a good looking win on the day.


Rafael Nadal - 9.5 games v Kei Nishikori: Like the Third Round match against David Goffin, on first glance this does seem like a lot of games for Rafael Nadal to cover but I am going to back the King of Clay to do that.

He has not been at his best on the clay courts in 2019 and the last couple of Rounds have perhaps seen Nadal do enough to win the match without blowing opponents off the court. In saying that, the Spaniard has dropped just a single set at the French Open and all of the sets he has won has seen players fail to win more than four games within them.

Rafael Nadal has won eleven sets at the French Open to move through to the Quarter Final and ten of them have been by a 6-3 or better scoreline. Six of those have been in sets where he has lost two or fewer games so Nadal is in good form, although the standards he has set on the surface means he is held to a different level than most.

The serve has been working very well for Nadal so far in the tournament and it does allow him to go ahead and take some chances in attacking opponents on the return. Every point is played like his life depends on it and that could make this a very tough afternoon for Kei Nishikori who has come through back to back five setters.

The Fourth Round win over Benoit Paire had to be played over a couple of days, but you can't ignore the court time Nishikori is racking up. Kei Nishikori has spent over eleven hours on the court to come through his last three matches and that kind of effort adds up in the fatigue department, especially ahead of a match with someone like Nadal who won't give you a moment to rest.

It is going to be a factor, but the match up is not really a very good one for Nishikori who has not been in the best form in the build up to the French Open. Even the performances in Paris have been slightly better than average if I am being honest and he is not serving as well as he will need to in order to keep Nadal from getting into all of the return games he plays.

That is perhaps not a big surprise when you think Nishikori was holding 80% of service games in the build up to the French Open. In this tournament he has won at least 60% of points behind serve in every match, but he has not played anyone close to the level Nadal produces when it comes to returning serve on this surface.

Even in their head to heads Nishikori has held just 70% of his service games played against Nadal and that number plummets to 59% when you only consider the four previous clay court matches they have played. With Nadal serving as well as he has in this tournament, I would expect him to get close to the 85% service hold number he has produced against Nishikori on the red dirt and we may see a fatiguing Nishikori fall away in this one.

MY PICKS: Johanna Konta @ 2.25 Bet Fred (2 Units)
Petra Martic @ 2.30 Bet365 (2 Units)
Roger Federer - 4.5 Games @ 2.00 Bet Fred (2 Units)
Rafael Nadal - 9.5 Games @ 2.00 Ladbrokes (2 Units)

French Open Update: 54-42, + 13.11 Units (193 Units Staked, + 6.79% Yield)