The second Grand Slam of the tennis schedule, the French Open, gets underway at Roland Garros on Sunday, May 28, and runs until June 11. Once again, Iga Swiatek is the favorite among the French Open Women’s contenders.
The defending champion is the best female clay court player in the world – if Rafael Nadal is the “King of Clay,” Swiatek is the “Queen of Clay.”
French Open Women’s Contenders
Player | Odds |
Iga Swiatek | -138 |
Aryna Sabalenka | +600 |
Elena Rybakina | +1400 |
Barbora Krejcikova | +1400 |
Coco Gauff | +1600 |
Paula Badosa | +1600 |
Maria Sakkari | +2000 |
Ons Jabeur | +1600 |
Jessica Pegula | +2000 |
Caroline Garcia | +2000 |
Swiatek’s Dominance on Clay
Since the start of the 2022 season, Swiatek is 27-2 on clay, thus making her the overwhelming pick for French Open best bets. She’s easily the best clay court player of all French Open women’s contenders.
Swiatek lost just one set en route to winning last year’s French Open and didn’t drop a set at all when she won for the first time in 2020.
As if that isn’t enough of a reason to support Swiatek in tennis predictions for the French Open bracket, she has made at least the semifinal in every tournament since the Australian Open. She won the Qatar Open and Stuttgart Open before suffering a rare clay-court loss to Aryna Sabalenka in the final of the Madrid Open this past weekend.
Swiatek beat Sabalenka in the final at Stuttgart, and the two players have somewhat of a budding rivalry this season. It’ll be interesting to see how the draw looks for the French Open women’s contenders.
Can Gauff Finally Break Through?
It feels like Coco Gauff has been on the scene forever, and yet she’s still just 19 years old. The one-time prized prodigy has shown signs of putting it all together on occasion but has yet to win a Grand Slam. Her closest effort was at last year’s French Open when she lost to Swiatek in the final.
However, it hasn’t been a strong season for the American in 2023. She’s coming off of a Round of 32 loss to Paula Badosa at the Madrid Open and hasn’t made a final since winning the ASB Classic in January.
Gauff will surely be motivated, but it seems unlikely that she’ll win her first Grand Slam at Roland Garros in 2023.
Other Contenders
Sabalenka has the second-shortest French Open odds and for a good reason. The 25-year-old Belarusian dropped just two sets en route to winning the Madrid Open this past weekend and picked up impressive wins over Maria Sakkari and Swiatek. She has been to the final in three of her last four tournaments.
One French Open women’s contender to fade is Elena Rybakina. Although she has the third-shortest odds to win, she hasn’t had a very strong 2023 season. She lost two of her last three matches and is a better player on grass and hard court than she is on clay.
Ons Jabeur is one of the better French Open picks for the 2023 women’s French Open. It has been an up-and-down season for the 28-year-old Tunisian.
She played injured at the Australian Open, losing in the second round to Marketa Vondroušová, but returned to form in early April with a win at the Charleston Open. Two weeks later, however, Jabeur was forced to retire during the semifinal match against Swiatek at the Stuttgart Open.
Jabeur is expected to play this week at the Italian Open. With a strong showing, her odds to win at Roland Garros will only improve, so now is a great time to lock in at +1600.
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