2024 French Open Tennis Betting
Last year, the French Open missed its leading man. The “King of Clay,” Rafael Nadal, was missing in action due to an injury. Nadal owns a record 14 French Open titles, which earned him that “King of Clay” moniker. Instead, it was the GOAT, Novak Djokovic, who took the crown. Meanwhile, on the women’s side, Iga Swiatek took her second consecutive French Open title.
The French Open is the second of four Grand Slam tournaments on the tennis calendar each year. Also known as Roland Garros, the French Open brings a hallowed venue and great tradition to the sports betting calendar. It is one of the most popular tennis betting events held annually. The French Open brings optimism and good cheer as being symbolic of the start of summer.
Rafael Nadal announced he will launch a comeback from his injuries. Fans and gamblers are all hoping that he can make it back to the clay courts of Rolan Garros.
Tennis Betting Lines
2024 French Open At a Glance
Location: Roland Garros, Paris, France
Date: May 20 – June 9, 2024
Surface: Clay
Total Participants: 128 men and women
Defending Champions: Novak Djokovic, Iga Swiatek
Since 2017, the French Open has had joint ownership shared between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. In that span, Nadal has five French Open titles, and Djokovic has three. On the women’s side, Iga Swiatek is the two-time defending champion with three wins in the previous four French Opens.
Novak Djokovic won his 23rd Grand Slam title, the most of any man in the history of the game, at the 2023 French Open. He defeated 24-year-old Norwegian clay specialist Casper Ruud 7-6(1), 6-3, 7-5.
The 36-year-old is the first man to win at least three titles at each of the four majors. He and Serena Williams now share the tie for most Grand Slam titles behind Australian record-holder Margaret Court, who won 24 major women's singles titles.
Ruud started strong, winning the first three games before Djokovic won his first. The opening losses weren't new for the Serbian star. It’s not the rope-a-dope, exactly, but he has lost the first set of major matches before and has almost always come storming back to even the score and crush his opponent. He came back in the first set itself, tying Ruud 4-4 before forcing a tiebreak.
That’s when Djokovic, at his best, was activated. He won the tiebreak easily and then had a chance to rest before the second set started. The wind picked up as Djokovic broke Ruud in his first service game, establishing a 3-0 lead early in the second set. In two hours and 13 minutes, Djokovic had the two-set advantage.
Ruud caught momentum in the third set, giving his dialed-in opponent a battle until Djokovic secured the advantage with a pivotal break in the 11th game. It was history watch from then on, and the champion laid out on the clay once he'd officially notched the victory.
While Djokovic took the men's record for Grand Slam title wins, Nadal has won the French Open championship a record 14 times. He missed the tournament after an injury from the Australian Open required surgery. Although Djokovic made it clear that he viewed Nadal's absence as an opportunity to win, joking that he didn't miss him, the Spanish great offered Djokovic congratulations via Twitter.
The King of Clay Launches Major Comeback Attempt
Rafael Nadal will begin his 2024 comeback from hip surgery at an Australian Open tuneup event in January.
Depending on how he feels at that event, likely the Brisbane Open (Dec. 31-Jan. 7), the 37-year-old Spanish tennis legend would then play the Australian Open, which runs Jan. 14-28, according to a report from Spanish reporter Pedro Fullana.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion has been out of action since suffering an injury to his lower abdomen and upper right leg at this year’s Australian Open in January. He had keyhole hip surgery in June.
In October, Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley announced Nadal would return to the year’s first Grand Slam in 2024.
At the time, Nadal's representative, Benito Perez-Barbadillo, told Reuters via text that the Spanish player's upcoming schedule had not yet been decided.
In recent days, a video of Nadal practicing at his academy has surfaced.
Nadal won the Australian Open in 2022, coming from two sets down to beat Russian Daniil Medvedev in a match that lasted 5 hours and 24 minutes. At the time, it marked his record 21st Grand Slam title. He went on to win his 22nd at Roland Garros that year.
His top rival, Novak Djokovic, has since surpassed him with 24 major titles and recently said he believed he could win all four majors and the Paris Olympics, which will be held at Roland Garros.
French Open Winners (2000)
YEAR |
MEN'S WINNER |
WOMEN'S WINNER |
2023 |
Novak Djokovic |
Iga Swiatek |
2022 |
Rafael Nadal |
Iga Swiatek |
2021 |
Novak Djokovic |
Barbora Krejcikova |
2020 |
Rafael Nadal |
Iga Swiatek |
2019 |
Rafael Nadal |
Ashleigh Barty |
2018 |
Rafael Nadal |
Simona Halep |
2017 |
Rafael Nadal |
Jelena Ostapenko |
2016 |
Novak Djokovic |
Garbine Muguruza |
2015 |
Stanislav Wawrinka |
Serena Williams |
2014 |
Rafael Nadal |
Maria Sharapova |
2013 |
Rafael Nadal |
Serena Williams |
2012 |
Rafael Nadal |
Maria Sharapova |
2011 |
Rafael Nadal |
Li Na |
2010 |
Rafael Nadal |
Francesca Schiavone |
2009 |
Roger Federer |
Svetlana Kuznetsova |
2008 |
Rafael Nadal |
Ana Ivanovic |
2007 |
Rafael Nadal |
Justine Henin |
2006 |
Rafael Nadal |
Justine Henin |
2005 |
Rafael Nadal |
Justine Henin |
2004 |
Gaston Gaudio |
Anastasia Myskina |
2003 |
Juan Carlos Ferrero |
Justine Henin |
2002 |
Albert Costa |
Serena Williams |
2001 |
Gustavo Kuerten |
Jennifer Capriati |
2000 |
Gustavo Kuerten |
Mary Pierce |
Most Career Men's Wins (Open Era)
WINS |
PLAYER |
YEARS |
14 |
Rafael Nadal |
2005-2008, 2010-2014, 2017-2020, 2022 |
6 |
Bjorn Borg |
1974, 1975, 1978-1981 |
3 |
Mats Wilander |
1982, 1985, 1988 |
3 |
Ivan Lendl |
1984, 1986, 1987 |
3 |
Gustavo Kuerten |
1997, 2000, 2001 |
It's all about Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros. He has won 14 French Open titles, and it's hard to see anyone ever running him down. Nadal has more than twice as many victories at the one clay court major than the next closest player (Bjorn Borg), and he has more than four times as many titles as anyone else in the Open Era here.
The only other active player with multiple French Open wins is Novak Djokovic. Although Djokovic has been the No. 1 ranked player in the world for over seven years, he didn’t win his first Grand Slam title here until 2016. Djokovic beat Andy Murray in four sets in 2016 and overcame dropping the first two sets to best Stefanos Tsitsipas for the title in 2021.
Most Career Women's Wins (Open Era)
WINS |
PLAYER |
YEARS |
7 |
Chris Evert |
1974, 1975, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1985, 1986 |
6 |
Steffi Graf |
1987, 1988, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1999 |
4 |
Justine Henin |
2003, 2005, 2006, 2007 |
3 |
Iga Swiatek |
2020, 2022, 2023 |
3* |
Margaret Court |
1969, 1970, 1973 |
3 |
Arantxa Sanchez Vicario |
1989, 1994, 1998 |
3 |
Monica Seles |
1990, 1991, 1992 |
3 |
Serena Williams |
2002, 2013, 2015 |
*Court won five French Open titles in her career, but her first two were a part of the amateur era in 1962 and 1964.
American Chris Evert is largely considered one of the best clay-court players in the history of women's tennis. Evert claimed seven titles over 13 years at the French Open.
Steffi Graf challenged Evert, but her six titles weren't quite good enough to pass her. Had Justine Henin played longer, she could have perhaps challenged both. She won four titles in five years from 2003 through 2007 at the French Open and was a fantastic clay court player.
Serena Williams has the most French Open titles of any active player, but this is her least successful Grand Slam, with only three titles in her 20 years on tour. We have seen six different women when the French Open in the last six years, and this is the most open Grand Slam event of the bunch.
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