French Open best bets for Sunday, May 26th
It’s time for the second major of this exciting 2024 tennis season, as the top ATP and WTA players in the world will be in Paris for the 2024 French Open. The action at Roland Garros should be stellar over the course of this fantastic tournament. I already went ahead and previewed some of the action in my French Open tournament preview, where I broke down the draws and gave out some of my favorite futures. But I’ll be doing my daily tennis best bets here. So, keep reading for some of my favorite plays for Day 1 of the French Open, which will be played on Sunday, May 26th.
I’d also strongly suggest coming back to this story throughout the day. I try to write up as many matches as I can in advance, but it’s hard to do that in an international sport. I also like to throw in some Challenger-level bets. That said, I’ll probably be adding picks to the bottom of the story. I’ll also throw them on the Pro Picks page.
MORE: Check out our Pro Picks page for everything our experts are betting!
2024 Record: 316-331 (+28.61 units)
Corentin Moutet vs. Nicolas Jarry
Jarry is coming off a tremendous run in Rome, where he lost to Alexander Zverev in the final. All in all, the Chilean is a good clay-court player and is wrapping up a rock-solid season on the dirt. But Jarry did struggle to handle his nerves towards the end of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, as he struggled to close out Tommy Paul in the semifinals and looked noticeably tight against Zverev. That’s not what you want from a player that is about to play Moutet, a fan favorite, at Court Simonne-Mathieu. The Frenchman is going to have overwhelming crowd support in this one, and that could get in Jarry’s head a little bit. Moutet is also a showman, so he’ll be eating the atmosphere up.
Moutet also happened to beat Jarry in Santiago earlier in the year, earning a 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3) win over the Chilean in his home tournament. The fans in that match were really giving it to Moutet, but the Frenchman was able to channel the energy and use it to his advantage. That was also a tournament played at altitude, which is favorable for a big server like Jarry. The slower conditions in Paris will help Moutet out quite a bit.
Overall, this is just a match in which Moutet should really dominate longer rallies. That means that Jarry will need to be excellent when it’s his turn to serve. But Moutet was doing a good job of getting that serve back in Chile, and it’ll be even easier for him to do so with the higher bounces at Roland Garros. With that in mind, I’m playing Moutet to cover a 5.5-game spread and I’m also putting a little on the moenyline. I think this match is a lot closer to 50-50 than the odds suggest.
Bet: Moutet +5.5 Games (-167 – 1.5 units) + Moutet ML (+225 – 0.5 units)
Laura Siegemund vs. Sofia Kenin
I have been guilty of blindly fading Kenin in the past, but I actually had her to beat Ons Jabeur in Rome. The American earned a 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 victory in that match, and she mostly played good tennis at that tournament. You never really know what you’re getting from Kenin these days, but she’s in better shape than she has been in recent years. And she’s a former French Open finalist, so we know her game translates to these conditions. The reason for that is that Kenin is one of the most aggressive ball strikers in the women’s game. But she needs time to get her feet set. Well, the slower conditions at Roland Garros definitely give her that time.
I really just think that Kenin has the ability to hit Siegemund off the court here. The American is 2-0 against Siegemund in her career and she hasn’t dropped a set against her. Perhaps the fact that this is a clay-court tournament will even things up a little bit, as Siegemund definitely prefers the dirt. But I don’t see it making a big enough difference to allow the 36-year-old to win this match, and I think the wrong player is favored here. As long as Kenin doesn’t serve horribly, she should win this match.
Bet: Kenin ML (+146)
Added Plays
Alexandre Muller ML (-172) vs. Luca Nardi
Zizou Bergs vs. Alejandro Tabilo Over 35.5 Games (-159 – 1.5 units)
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