The excitement and anticipation continues to increase, as this year’s second Grand Slam tournament—the French Open—is only a couple of days away. It’s set to begin this coming Sunday, May 22, and Stan Wawrinka (+900), the defending champion, will hope to retain his title against a star-studded pool of competitors. Can he overcome the odds once again? Or will we witness a new champion be crowned?
To help you answer those questions, take a close look below at the predictions of some of the sport’s brightest minds. And while you’re doing so, don’t forget to check out our complete preview of the tournament itself and our sleeper picks.
2016 ATP French Open Men’s Singles Expert Picks and Predictions
*Find the complete list of the French Open Men’s Singles betting lineshere
Bleacher Report
Expert
Pick(s)
Brian Marron
Novak Djokovic
Well, there’s no reason to be surprised with Brian Marron’s pick. Novak Djokovic (-130) has been nothing but dominant. He is atop of the ATP rankings and is 35-3 this year, which includes his 11th career Grand Slam in the Australian Open. It’s worth noting, however, that Djokovic will head into Roland Garros coming off a finals loss, 6-3, 6-3 to Andy Murray (+900) in the recently-concluded Italian Open.
Nevertheless, that setback should actually help Djokovic become more prepared and hungrier. He’s finished as the runner-up the last two years in Paris, and this year might finally be the best opportunity for him to capture his first-ever French Open title.
Euro Sport
Expert
Pick(s)
Dan Quarrell
Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal
Dan Quarrell of Euro Sport wanted to play it safe, and you can’t blame him for doing so. He’s sure that one of these three contenders—Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal (+275)—will come out on top in the 2016 French Open.
Djokovic, as mentioned earlier, has been sensational throughout the year, but the same could be said for the pair of Murray and Nadal, too. It won’t be surprising to see one of those two prevent the Serbian from earning his first title at Roland Garros.
Murray is 20-5 on the season and is ranked second in the ATP rankings. More importantly, the Scotsman has arguably been the most dangerous foe for Djokovic. Murray won their most recent meeting in the Italian Open, bagging the commanding straight-sets victory in the final. Murray has also reached the semifinals in the previous two years at Roland Garros.
Nadal, meanwhile, will be as dangerous as ever thanks to his strong reputation on clay and at the French Open itself. He’s won the event nine times already and is 19-4 on the aforementioned surface this season. Nadal, however, has lost his last seven matchups with Djokovic, and it’ll be interesting see if that’ll remain to be the case if ever the two encounter each other at some point of the tournament.
The Roar
Expert
Pick(s)
Hugh Clarke
Novak Djokovic
And once again, there’s nothing to be surprised here. Hugh Clarke of The Roar is very high on Novak Djokovic. He points out that the Serbian is not just a contender, but the hands-down favorite to win it all at Roland Garros. It’s going to take a titanic performance from some other competitor to take down Djokovic especially in a best-of-five sets format.
