Every tennis expert has his or her own take of the upcoming men’s singles tournament at the 2019 French Open. While Rafael Nadal is still the favorite to win it all, some experts aren’t quite as confident in the future Hall of Famer’s chances to win at Roland Garros due to the presence of Novak Djokovic and other players who have their eyes on the prize. Read on to see what some of these tennis savants are saying about the French Open men’s singles.
TV Broadcast: ESPN, NBC Sports, TSN, Tennis Channel
BLEACHER REPORT
Soft Pick: Novak Djokovic
Right after Novak Djokovic won the first grand slam tournament of the year with an Australian Open victory, Steve Silverman of Bleacher Report was quick to express his confidence in the Serbian’s capability to top 2019 French Open. That being said, Silverman did not outright say that Djokovic will take Roland Garros by storm, and certainly did not write his preview without mentioning the best to ever play at the French Open: Rafael Nadal.
“Nadal has won the French Open 11 time in his carer and there may be no stopping the 32-year-old when the tour hits the red clay of Roland-Garros.”
Djokovic, who beat Nadal in the finals of this year’s Australian Open and is +225 to win the 2019 French Open, however, lost to the Spaniard in the finals of the Italian Open, adding to the storied rivalry of these two legendary racket warriors.
Djokovic has one French Open title, which he won in 2016. He hasn’t gone past the quarterfinals at Roland Garros in each of the last two years.
FANSIDED
Pick: Rafael Nadal
Fansided’s Harry Floyd ranked his five favorites to win the men’s single tournament at the 2019 French Open, and has Rafael Nadal (+125) on top of his list. Shocked? Neither are we. Nadal has been keeping his supporters worried a bit for the most part of the year, as he had not won a tournament until this May, when he defeated Djokovic in the finals of the 2019 Italian Open. Prior to that, Nadal suffered a number of frustrating losses in matches he was supposed to win against perceived inferior opponents. There was his loss to Dominic Thiem at the semifinals round of the Barcelona Open, the semifinals defeat to Fabio Forgnini of the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, and a second round exit at the hands of Nick Kyrgios at Abierto Mexicano TELCEL. All those seemed to be behind the God of Clay now following Nadal’s victory over Djokovic in Rome. Floyd may be playing it safe with his pick, but who can blame him? With 11 French Open titles, no one’s going to sound crazy picking Rafa at Roland Garros.
LAST WORD ON TENNIS
Pick: Novak Djokovic
Jakob Haugerud of Last Word On Tennis thinks Djokovic, not Nadal, is the man to beat at the 2019 French Open. That’s not too bold of a thing to say, given Djokovic’s lofty standing today in the world of tennis, but whenever you put anyone ahead of Nadal when it comes to that tournament, you’re going to get at least a few heads turned. Sure Nadal beat Djokovic at the 2019 Italian Open, but the latter is winning the all-time head-to-head series by a slim margin, 28-26. Djokovic has also taken two of the last three meetings, though, both of those victories were not on clay.
TOPBET WRITER – RYAN SIMPSON
Pick: Novak Djokovic
View Ryan’s complete 2019 French Open betting preview here.
