Winning an extraordinary 15th French Open title would be the perfect way for Rafael Nadal to bring the curtain down on his remarkable career. Sadly, this is one fairytale ending which isn’t going to happen.
The silky Spaniard has been blighted by injuries for some time now and his hopes of bowing out in style will end in tears at Roland Garros.
It won’t be Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alvarez or Jannick Sinner who prevent him from clinching a 23rd grand-slam crown as the three market leaders in the men’s singles betting all have concerns about their form and fitness while another big gun, Daniil Medvedev, has only one clay title to his credit.
Casper Ruud, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andrey Rublev are in the mix to become first-time champions on the Paris clay but the vote goes to Alexander Zverev, who enters the tournament after winning the Italian Open in Rome for a second time on Sunday.
Zverev has reached the semi-finals of the French Open in each of the last three years and was close to winning his first slam in September 2020 when he was just two points from victory at the US Open before losing a five-set thriller to Dominic Thiem.
The world No.4 has some bad memories at Roland Garros, having torn three ligaments in his right ankle in the 2022 semis against Nadal but has admitted this is the championship he cherishes most of all and appeals each-way at 15/2 with BetMGM, Unibet and BetUK to take the title.
With Nadal bowing out, Iga Swiatek is poised to become the new invincible at Roland Garros and she looks a rock-solid bet at 7/10 with SpreadEx and Sportingbet. She has won three of her four grand slams in the French capital and is fresh from successive victories over Aryana Sabalenka at the Italian and Madrid Opens.
Swiatek should cruise to victory but punters who feels her price is too short or that she has peaked too soon should put their cash on Elena Rybakina, who beat Swiatek on the way to winning last month’s Stuttgart Open.
Rybakina has also prevailed in Brisbane and Abu Dhabi this year while reaching finals in Doha and Miami and feels she can win a grand slam on any surface. The 24-year-old world No.4 from Kazakhstan is each-way value at 11/1 with Ladbrokes and Coral.
De Zerbi next in at Stamford Bridge?
Former Brighton boss Robert De Zerbi is the firm favourite with bookmakers to be Chelsea’s seventh manager in six years after they parted company with Mauricio Pochettino.
The Italian manager, who left the Seagulls after the final Premier League game of the season at home to Manchester United on Sunday, is 9/4 with Paddy Power and Betfair to follow previous Albion boss Graham Potter in swapping the hot seat at the Amex Stadium for the one at Stamford Bridge.
Kieran McKenna, who has guided Ipswich from League One to the top flight in successive seasons, is the 7/2 second favourite with Coral and he is also 2/1 with Bet Victor to replace De Zerbi at Brighton.
Sporting Lisbon manager Ruben Amorim, recently linked with the managerial posts at Liverpool and West Ham, is 12/1 with Sky Bet while Brentford boss Thomas Frank is 12/1 with bet365 to make the short journey across west London.
Pochettino, who parted company with the Blues in a shock move on Wednesday, is now the 2/1 favourite with Paddy Power, Betfair and Sky Bet to be the next Manchester United manager if Erik Ten Hag leaves the club following Saturday’s FA Cup final with Manchester City.
England boss Gareth Southgate is 7/1 with Paddy Power and Betfair to be next in charge at Old Trafford and former Chelsea and Bayern Munich head coach Thomas Tuchel is the same price with the former firm.
DeZerbi is also in the reckoning along with former United coach McKenna at 11/1 and 12/1 respectively with Sky Bet.
• Irish raider Graham Holland sends out a strong team at Towcester this week as he bids to win the English Greyhound Derby, which starts on Thursday, for a third straight year. The Other Kobe, who won the Irish Greyhound Derby at Shelbourne Park last September in a record time of 29.11 seconds, looks his strongest candidate at 28/1 with Betway, Coral and Ladbrokes while Bockos Crystal, a close second in that race, is a whopping 125/1 with Betway and bet365.
The third each-way selection representing the former Portsmouth, Oxford and Hove trainer is Faypoint Harvey, easy to find at 40/1 with multiple firms. Last year’s Puppy Derby champion King Memphis, trained by Liz McNair and a subsequent impressive winner of the category one Olympic at Hove in December, leads home hopes at 16/1 with Coral, Betfred, Ladbrokes and Unibet.
• The Colonial Country Club is one of the toughest par-70 courses on the PGA Tour and it’s where Belgium’s Thomas Detry and his accurate play around the greens can flourish in this week’s Charles Schwab Challenge.
Detry finished tied fourth in the US PGA on Sunday and is a big each-way price at 45/1 with bet365. Wolverhampton’s Aaron Rai was T4 at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson before featuring well for three rounds at the US PGA and he’s 40/1 with the same firm and our final each-ways are Adam Schenk, who has a point to prove after losing last year’s play-off, and Sungjae Im who has T12 and T4 finishes at Harbour Town and Quail Hollow either side of a victory in his native South Korea. They are 60/1 with bet365 and 33/1 with Ladbrokes and Coral respectively.
MORE : Emma Raducanu makes shock decision over French Open participation
MORE : Rafael Nadal ‘feels fine’ and set to play French Open for final time
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Share your story or advertise with us: Whatsapp: +2347068606071 Email: info@newspotng.com
