From May 27 to June 10, the 122nd edition of the French Open will be staged with Rafael Nadal looking to win his 11th career title there. Will Nadal do just that? Or will another contender win it all?
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Early Betting Preview for the ATP 2018 French Open Men’s Singles Tennis Division
Favorites: Rafael Nadal (-200) / Novak Djokovic (+800)
Rafael Nadal – Nadal is 31, but don’t think for a second that he’s going downhill, especially not when it comes to clay matches. Nadal remains the king of clay. With 10 French Open titles, including six in the last eight years, Nadal is unquestionably the top favorite to take home the Coupe des Mousquetaires this year. The Spaniard tennis superstar is 12-1 on clay matches this year with the lone loss being his most recent outing, which is a 7-5, 6-3 defeat at the hands of Dominic Thiem at the Madrid Masters, so expect him to be extremely motivated right from the get-go at Roland Garros.
Novak Djokovic – As for Djokovic, he’s currently out of the top 10 rankings, but he is still a dangerous opponent on any given surface. It was not that long ago when he completed a Grand Slam by winning the French Open in 2016. Ranked 18th in the world, Djokovic is 3-3 on clay matches this year.
Sleepers: Stan Wawrinka (+1,500) / Juan Martin Del Potro (+2,000)
Stan Wawrinka – Wawrinka does not seem to be 100 percent healthy yet after going under the knife to repair a knee injury back in August. He is coming off a first-round exit loss to No. 55 Steve Johnson at the Italian Open just this month. Prior to that, he also struck out in the first round of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament last February. Having said all of that, Wawrinka still deserves respect in the tournament as he’s won the French Open in 2015.
Juan Martin Del Potro – As for Del Potro, while he’s not among the Big Four, he’s always been competitive when up against the top competitors. He’s even beaten the likes Roger Federer, Alexander Zverev, David Ferrer and Dominic Thiem this year.
Long Shot: Jack Sock (+8,000)
Jack Sock – Sock has at least one thing going against his chances in the French Open: he’s an American. No American has won at Roland Garros since Thomas Muster did in 1995. The 25-year-old Sock is 2-2 on clay matches this year as of this writing. Among those wins is over David Ferrer in the first round of the ongoing Rome Masters.
Writers Prediction
Rafael Nadal adds to his clay legend by notching his 11th French Open title.
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