Ricky Dimon
Tennis
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Second-round action at the 2021 French Open starts on Wednesday. The men’s and women’s singles fields have already been sliced in half, but there remain plenty of betting opportunities on offer. Both fields are already depleted, too. On the women’s side, Naomi Osaka and Petra Kvitova have withdrawn, for very different reasons, and Garbine Muguruza has already lost. The men’s bracket is now without Dominic Thiem and Andrey Rublev, both first-round losers. Daniil Medvedev is among those who will try to avoid the same fate in round two on Wednesday.
Throughout the two weeks in Paris, Pickswise will be offering plenty of content to help you make winning tennis picks. We are off to a 7-1 start through three days, so the plan is to keep it rolling!
Let’s continue by taking a look at some of the best bets for Wednesday at Roland Garros, and be sure to also check out our best futures bets for the fortnight.
Parlay: Daniil Medvedev over Tommy Paul and Guido Pella over Marcos Giron (-103)
Medvedev had never won a match at the French Open prior to this fortnight, but it’s not like he has been entirely hopeless on clay for his entire career. The Russian reached the Barcelona final in 2019 and is insisting that he likes the conditions at Roland Garros more than at most other clay-court events. There is no reason not to believe him after he routed Alexander Bublik on Monday. Paul, on the other hand, went to 10-8 in the fifth set against Christopher O’Connell. The American is also coming off a long week in Parma (lost to Sebastian Korda in the semi-finals), so fatigue could be a factor. Meanwhile, Pella is the essence of a clay-court specialist and Giron is lucky to be in the second round. Giron trailed Grigor Dimitrov by two sets and 5-1 in the third before saving triple-match point and staying alive long enough to see the Bulgarian retire due to injury.
Victoria Azarenka -3 games over Clara Tauson (-108)
Azarenka was dealt a tough first-round draw against former French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova and she passed it impressively, recovering from the loss of set two to win 6-3 in the third. Tauson isn’t the easiest of opponents, either, but she is just 18 years old and obviously has not yet reached her peak. She has been struggling even at the lower levels of tennis in recent weeks, so this is a big step up in competition for the young Dane. With a match under her belt, Azarenka should raise her level even higher from what it was in round one and use her experience to pocket a routine victory.
Jaume Munar +2.5 games over Reilly Opelka (-115)
I have Munar winning this one outright, so getting on the +115 money line is not a bad option. Taking the 2.5 games is just a bonus, although those games could come in handy when the margins against Opelka are almost always so small. At 6’11”, Opelka is obviously one of the biggest servers on tour. Service breaks are generally few and far between in his matches. The American is starting to find his footing on clay, but the sample size of success on this surface remains small and it is without question worse for him than a hard court or grass. Munar, on the other hand, is a clay-court specialist.
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