Naomi Osaka isn’t the type of player one would prefer to face right in the very first round of a tournament, but that’s the fate Anna Karolina Schmiedlova will have to deal with this Monday, when she takes on the world’s No. 1 women’s singles player. Osaka is +800 to win the women’s bracket at Roland Garros. You can check out the rest of the odds to win the 2019 French Open’s women’s singles here.
Schmiedlova needs to regain her confidence following a bad 0-6, 2-6 loss to Xinyun Han in Strasbourg, where the Slovakian had a miserable performance. Schmiedlova put in play just 47 percent of her first serves, but the most embarrassing part was that she was broken five times. That’s not the kind of form Schmiedlova definitely would have liked, so she’ll have to figure out a way to fix her issues. Schmiedlova has been joining Grand Slam tournaments since 2013, but the last match she’s won in such a setting was at the 2015 US Open in which she made it to the third round. She’s never gotten out of the first round at Roland Garros since 2015, but made the third round of the tournament in 2014.
Betting on the Naomi Osaka (-800)
Osaka is the overwhelming favorite to win her first-round match against Schmiedlova, but there’s at least one reason to worry about the Japanese star. That’s the thumb injury that forced her to withdraw at the Italian Open. Still, the fact that she’s taking part at the 2019 French Open suggests that she is healthy enough to complete. Assuming that she’s less than 100 percent healthy, Osaka should still be able to breeze past by Schmiedlova, whose tendency to commit numerous errors will open up plenty of chances for Osaka to make the Slovakian pay. Osaka is fifth overall in WTA with a 75.0 break point conversion percentage to go with a 40.9 return points won percentage. Osaka, which lost to Kiki Bertens in the quarterfinals round at Rome, reached the fourth round of the French Open in 2018, and is looking to double up on her Australian Open win earlier this year.
