Tennis: French Open 2022 - Rafael Nadal favorite once again

Tennis: French Open 2022 - Rafael Nadal favorite once again

The second tennis Grand Slam of the year is upon us as the top players in the world head to Roland Garros for the 2022 French Open for the 126th edition of the tournament.

128 players will compete for the men's singles title and a prize of $1.73 million as they look to prove they're the king of the clay court during this week's tournament, running from May 16th to June 5th in Paris, France.

We'll take a look at the favorites to be crowned champions and provide you with our best free betting picks to see if you can earn some extra cash for the upcoming summer. Let's have a look at the current tennis odds.

French Open 2022BetOnlineBetUSMyBookie
Rafael Nadal+175+135+140
Novak Djokovic+300+275+265
Carlos Alcaraz+200+200+192
Stefanos Tsitsipas+600+550+540
Alexander Zverev+1400+1600+1450
Casper Ruud+2500+2000+2100

Tournament information

  • French Open 2022
  • 128 players
  • Stade Roland Garros, Paris, France
  • May 16th - June 5th
  • $1.73 million prize pot

Tournament favorites

Rafael Nadal - (+175)

The King of the clay courts, Nadal, has a startling record of 13 wins at Roland Garros across his 21-year career and has a record-setting 21 career grand slams.

Nadal will turn 36 just two days before the 2022 French Open final is set to be played, and he will want to cement his legacy as the greatest clay-court tennis player of all time with yet another title to his tally.

He started 2022 in perfect fashion, claiming victories at the ATP Melbourne, the Australian Open, the ATP Acapulco, and then getting to the finals at Indian Wells. After 20 straight wins to start the year, broken ribs caused him to suffer his first defeat in the final after he tried to play through the pain barrier.

He's back now though and looks good again, and on his favorite court considering the record he has, it's impossible to look past him at plus money.

Rafael Nadal win French Open 2022
+175
BetOnline

Check out the latest odds at BetOnline sports betting here

Novak Djokovic - (+300)

The world number one and 20-time grand slam winner enters this competition as the reigning champion, having defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas in 2021 final in a five-set classic.

He hasn't been at his best this season though, with his lack of COVID-19 vaccination meaning he couldn't play in the first grand slam of the year or several other tournaments. He was restricted to just three matches between December 2021 and April 2022 and will come into this severely out-of-match rhythm.

He struggled in ATP Dubai playing just three times, before getting eliminated at ATP Monte Carlo in the first round by Alejandro Davidovich in a shock result.

It will be a super tough tournament for him to return to top form, because there will be plenty of expectations on him as well as the fact he will be up against the greatest clay tennis player of all time.

But with that said, he is still the world number one and Novak Djokovic is often at his best when his back is against the wall so it wouldn't be the biggest shock in the world if he claimed a 21st career grand slam title and defended his crown.

Carlos Alcaraz - (+200)

Nadal is widely considered as the greatest Spanish tennis player ever, but Alcaraz is looking to make a name for himself as the best Spaniard currently active after his amazing emergence.

The Spaniard turns 19 this month and is already ranked as the number 11 player in the world, and looks ready for a huge breakthrough this year that could potentially see him claim the first grand slam of his career.

He claimed two tournament wins already this season, being victorious at ATP Rio de Janeiro and the ATP Miami Open. That bodes well for him, especially considering the Rio de Janeiro tournament is also played on clay.

He's also done well in big games against highly ranked tennis stars like Matteo Berrettini, Cameron Norrie, and Stefanos Tsitsipas and even claimed a win against Nadal himself just last week as well as a win over world number one Novak Djokovic too.

Alcaraz is in excellent form, will be confident heading into the tournament, and has nothing to lose. The price is a bit short, but if you fancy an upset, it'll likely be this man to provide it.

Carlos Alcaraz win French Open 2022
+200
BetUS

Have a look at our review for the BetUS sports betting site here.

Sleeper bet

Casper Ruud - (+2100)

It's not often you're ranked as the number seven tennis player in the world and considered an outside bet, but at more than 20-1 to claim victory at Roland Garros, that's exactly what Ruud is here.

Ruud is one of the best players in the field on clay courts, as proven by the fact that all six tournaments he has been victorious in during his career have come on clay. If Nadal is the king, then Ruud might well be the prince.

He's picked up wins over Alexander Zverev and Cameron Norrie already during 2022, which bodes well for him also, and with a decent draw, he could find himself getting to the latter stages.

From there, anything can happen, and on clay, he will fancy himself against anyone.

Check out our review for MyBookie sports betting here.