This harder you fall business sucks
The French Open at Roland Garros is owned by Rafael Nadal as the Spaniard has lost just a single match in the last decade on the Parisian clay as he has taken every title at the second Grand Slam of the tennis season between 2005 and last year, with 2009 the exception. That year saw the then four time French Open tennis champion beaten in the fourth round by Sweden’s Robin Söderling, but five successive triumphs since then have seen Nadal claim the Coupe des Mousquetaires all for himself. Will he increase his record breaking haul of titles to reach double figures this June in the Paris sunshine?
According to online bookmaker WilliamHill.com Nadal is just the second favourite to make it six wins in a row at Roland Garros behind world number one Novak Djokovic. Andy Murray is a close third in the betting odds, but will one of the big three take the title or will there be an upset in the coming weeks?
The Big Three:
Novak Djokovic (Odds of 1.73 to win the 2015 French Open with William Hill): The top seed and player sitting atop the ATP rankings since July 7th last year comes into this tournament in fearsome form. The Serbian has played seven tournaments in 2015 and has claimed five titles, including the first Grand Slam of the year as he triumphed at the Australian Open and all of the last three tournaments after losing the Dubai final to Roger Federer in February. He has played two clay court tournaments in the build up to the French Open and he defeated world number eight Tomas Berdych in the final of the Monte Carlo Masters after seeing off Nadal in the semi finals and then claimed the Rome Masters title with a straightforward 6-4, 6-3 win over Roger Federer.
Djokovic has reached two of the last three finals at Roland Garros, but will this year see him break his Parisian clay court duck to take his first French Open title?
Rafael Nadal (3.75 to win the 2015 French Open at WilliamHill.com): Could we be about to see a changing of the guard at Roland Garros? Nadal does not bring his usual good form into the French Open this year as he has suffered defeats at the semi final, third round, final and quarter finals in his four clay court tournaments before the second Grand Slam of the season. These losses at the Monte Carlo Masters, Barcelona, Madrid Masters and Rome Masters tournaments are worse than last year as he reached the final of the last two of these in 2014, winning in Madrid, before claiming his ninth title in the French capital. Will his winning touch on these courts return when he begins his campaign for a 15th Grand Slam title?
Andy Murray (Odds to win the French Open in the William Hill Sportsbook – 9.00): The Scottish world number three has had a fine season so far despite being stopped in his tracks by Djokovic at every turn in the early stages of the year. He was beaten by the Serbian world number one in the Australian Open Final, the Miami Masters Final and the Indian Wells semi finals but, despite having never won an ATP tournament on clay he comes into this Grand Slam tournament in fine form. He broke his clay court curse by easing to the title in Munich before following it up with a win over world number seven Rafael Nadal in Madrid to claim back to back clay court titles. He retired from the third round of the Rome Masters citing fatigue after winning ten straight clay court matches, but can he overcome his tiredness and having lost 18 of 26 matches against Djokovic to claim his first French Open title?
The Dark Horses:
He may be 33 years old, but Roger Federer (21.00) offers fantastic value to claim the 2015 French Open title as the only man outside Nadal to have lifted this title in the last ten years, while making the final of the tournament on a further four occasions in this time. He has not reached the final since 2011, making the final four, final eight and fourth round over the last three years but with his resurgence this year seeing him return to second place in the rankings and having won on clay in Turkey and reached the Rome Masters final he stands a great chance at upsetting the odds this year.
Clay court master David Ferrer (41.00) reached the final of the French Open two years ago before suffering a 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 loss to Nadal and is a consistent player on this surface. His four clay court tournaments in the build up to the tournament have seen him reach at least the final eight while he has gone this far in all of his last three appearances at Roland Garros. He can beat anyone on his day, but does he have the consistency to go all the way?
Final Thoughts:
As the William Hill odds suggest we feel that the Rafael Nadal era of winning the French Open tennis is coming to a close as the Spanish legend has slipped to seventh in the ATP rankings and both Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray are looking good on clay this year. The Serbian world number one deserves to be the odds on favourite to triumph at Roland Garros and with his psychological advantage over all those who challenge him we cannot see anyone else taking the title.
However, William Hill offer 1/2 odds on players to reach the final as an each way bet and with Murray showing that he is a more than capable clay court player in 2015 we can see him at least making the final and with the each way part of the odds paying out at 5.00 for him to win a semi final match we feel that there is plenty of value on him to do so. With Federer showing some good form in the lead up to this competition too and offering 11.00 on making the final we are tempted to have a small wager on the Swiss legend in case either of our first two picks suffer a shock early elimination.
French Open Picks: Andy Murray Each Way to Make the Final paying out 5.00 (4/1) and Roger Federer Each to Make the Final paying out 5.50 (4.5/1).