2025 Roland Garros best bets for Thursday, May 29th
The second major of the 2025 tennis season is here. The top players in the world are in Paris, France for the 2025 French Open over the next two weeks, and the action in Roland Garros should be awesome to monitor. I’ll be posting daily best bets throughout the tournament, so VSiN is the place to be if you like betting on tennis. If you aren’t already a subscriber, I’d suggest looking into becoming a VSiN Pro soon. I constantly provide analysis on all of the biggest events, and this is the best time of the year for this sport.
I’d also strongly suggest checking the Pro Picks page throughout the day. That’s where Gill Alexander will be posting his French Open best bets. Gill does a tremendous job handicapping tennis on A Numbers Game, which is a staple of our live VSiN programming. Also, while I try to write up as many of my plays as possible, I do occasionally add things to that page throughout the day. That’s also where I post plays for smaller ATP and WTA events, and my Challenger-level plays live exclusively on that page.
With all of that out of the way, let’s get into some French Open picks for Day 5 on Thursday, May 29th.
Jaume Munar vs. Arthur Fils
Fils should be able to beat Munar in front of a French crowd. The 20-year-old has the bigger serve, plus he has more power from the baseline and an edge in overall athleticism. Fils has also been really good about avoiding early exits in tournaments this year. However, it’s hard to expect a blowout against Munar. The Spaniard has 72 wins on clay in his career, and he rarely loses without putting up a big fight. That’s why I’m taking the Over on the 3.5-set total in this one.
For as much as Fils has improved when it comes to point construction and figuring out ways to win, you do occasionally get some sloppy stretches from him. We saw it as recently as last round, when he let Nicolas Jarry steal a third set that he had no business winning. Well, I can easily see something like that happening here. Fils has a booming first serve, but he also has a miserable second serve. The latter tends to give opponents openings in matches, and Munar is the ultimate opportunist.
These two also happened to play a clay-court match in Hamburg last year, and Munar won a set in that best-of-three match. Well, if he was able to win one in a best-of-three match, I don’t see any reason he can’t do so in a best-of-five match. Munar has upped his game this season.
Bet: Over 3.5 Sets (-138)
Pierre-Hugues Herbert vs. Joao Fonseca
Fonseca absolutely demolished Hubert Hurkacz in the opening round, winning 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 in one of the most impressive performances of the tournament. It felt like Fonseca had a chance of winning every one of Hurkacz’s service games, and the Pole has one of the biggest serves on the ATP Tour. It was remarkable. Well, Fonseca really should be able to advance to the third round, as his meeting with Herbert is extremely winnable. However, I don’t think the Brazilian will advance without a hiccup.
Herbert really hasn’t been a presence on the ATP Tour since 2021, and he hasn’t been a winning player since 2018. However, the Frenchman can be a tricky opponent. He’s really good at serving to spots, and he backs it up with a potent net game. Fonseca is undoubtedly going to get the better of any of their longer exchanges from the back of the court, but Herbert should be able to win some of the quicker ones. And overall, I feel like this match could end up looking how people thought the last one would. Herbert has the serve-and-volley game to force a tiebreaker or two, especially if Fonseca struggles to follow up his opening-round win. And if we do see some tight sets, I’ll want a little something on the Frenchman to steal one of them.
This is also going to be an interesting atmosphere. Fonseca’s fans travel extremely well, and he had the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand against Hurkacz. But will he be able to manage his emotions if the crowd gets behind the Frenchman?
Bet: Herbert To Win A Set (+165 – 0.5 units)
Jacob Fearnley vs. Ugo Humbert
Humbert is going to have a massive home-court advantage in this match, but Fearnley should be able to brush it aside. The Brit was an elite college player at TCU, where he won a national championship and was an All-American all four years. He’s used to dealing with unruly fans, and a good argument can be made that he raises his level in a raucous atmosphere.
What’s most important heading into this match is that Humbert has been struggling lately. Before beating Christopher O’Connell in the opening round, Humbert had lost five of his previous six matches. Of course, it should be noted that Humbert is dealing with a broken bone in his right hand, making it harder to hit backhands. So, it’s not a normal case of a player just lacking form. But that hand is still giving Humbert some problems. Until that changes, I feel you have to downgrade him.
Humbert is also just 15-33 on clay in his career, and he’s 2-7 on the dirt over the last 52 weeks. This has never really been his surface, as his booming serve can be neutralized in slower conditions. Well, Fearnley should be able to get a lot of serves back. And once he resets points, he’ll use his quick, whippy forehand to attack the Humbert backhand. That’s the side of the court where you can see Humbert struggling with the hand. And Fearnley’s ball should be heavy enough that Humbert won’t be able to run around the backhand and hit forehands.
Bet: Fearnley ML (+122)
