The 2019 French Open is set to kick off late this month of May, and the biggest story heading into the tournament revolves around Rafael Nadal. The Spaniard is eyeing to win his 12th overall title at Roland Garros, but that happening doesn’t look as sure today as it was in previous years with Nadal’s form in question as of the moment. We will all just have to wait and see. For now, here’s some of the favorites, sleepers, and a long shot to keep an eye on.
Early Betting Preview for the ATP 2019 French Open Men’s Singles Tennis Division
Favorites: Rafael Nadal (+120) / Novak Djokovic (+240)
This year hasn’t been as kind to Rafael Nadal so far, but he’s still widely considered as this generation’s Clay God. Heck, you would not get many counterargument by saying that Nadal is the greatest clay tennis player of all time, especially if you bring up the fact that the 32-year-old Spaniard has 11 French Open titles. There’s a reason to worry about Nadal’s form heading into the 2019 French Open. That he remains without a title this year is something that’s almost unthinkable. He just crashed out of the 2019 Madrid Open after losing to Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semifinals. For those keeping count, that’s the third semifinal defeat by Nadal. Moreover, this is also the first time since 2004 that the future Hall of Famer was not able to punch a ticket to a final of a clay tournament from January of a year to the first week of May since 2004. Nadal, the Roland Garros defending champion, is 6-2 this year on clay court matches and 17-4 overall in ATP Tour matches.
Nadal’s shaky state seems like good news for those who are looking to bet on Novak Djokovic. The 31-year-old Serbian made the finals of the 2019 Madrid Open, which shows how ready he is for the French Open battle. Djokovic beat Dominic Thiem in the semifinals of the Madrid Open and Marin Cilic in the quarterfinals. Expect Djokovic to be fully motivated to take down the competition at the French Open, as he is aching to atone himself from a disappointing quarterfinals exit a year ago when he got upset by Marco Cecchinato in four sets. Djokovic has one French Open title under his belt, topping the 2016 edition of the event by beating Andy Murray in the finals.
Stefanos Tsitsipas is slowly making it clear that he’s one of the next big thing in tennis. And he added to his growing resume another huge win when, as mentioned earlier, he sent Nadal careening out of the 2019 Madrid Open with a semifinals victory over the legendary Spaniard. But Nadal has not been the only big fish Tsitsipas has beaten over the past several months. In fact, in the last 10 months, Tsitsipas has taken down Novak Djokovic, and Roger Federer. All of those wins by Tsitsipas came in either Masters tournament or a Grand Slams tournament. Not many 20-year-old kids could boast the same kind of achievements, but that’s the kind of situation Tsitsipas is right now.
Nishikori, on the other hand, is coming off a disappointing performance at the Madrid Open, as he made a third-round exit following a loss to Stanislas Wawrinka. Nishikori makes his opponents work, regardless of the seed of his foe. He’s someone even the likes of Nadal and Djokovic can’t take lightly. Nishikori has reached the quarterfinals of the French Open twice in the past two years. In his last four Grand Slam tournament appearances, he’s made the quarterfinals three times, including his semifinals trip at the 2018 US Open.
Maybe Karen Khachanov shouldn’t have decided against changing his racket. After doing so in January, Khachanov has gone 7-10 in Tour matches, the latest being a loss to Fernando Verdasco at the second round of the Madrid Open. Khachanov is only 22 years old, so his ceiling is still high. He has yet to make the quarterfinals of any Grand Slam tournaments. The deepest he’s been was the fourth rounds of the French Open (2017, 2018) and of Wimbledon (2018).
Writer’s Prediction
Novak Djokovic tops the tournament with a win over Rafael Nadal in the finals.
