This article is part of our Tennis Picks series.
The second round of the French Open begins Wednesday. Two top-10 seeds on the men's side could face stiff challenges from talented, young opponents, while American women at various stages of their careers will look to keep their Roland Garros runs going. All Tennis Odds & Lines are taken from DraftKings Sportsbook, but you can sometimes find more favorable odds on some of these matches by checking mobile sportsbooks such as FanDuel Sportsbook, BetMGM, Caesars Sportsbook, or any of the other best sports betting sites. We offer exclusive sign-up bonuses for some of those sportsbooks in states where sports betting has gone live.
All men's singles matches at Grand Slams such as the French Open are best of five sets, while women's singles matches are best of three sets. A mix of players' previous clay court results, recent form and stylistic matchups can help pinpoint intriguing betting opportunities, both among favorites likely to cruise to victory and underdogs ready to pull off upsets. The aforementioned underdogs are highlighted in the Upset Alert section, the Lock It In section covers players who can safely be viewed as overwhelming favorites, while the Value Bets section recommends enticing options in matchups that are considered closer to toss-ups.
French Open Picks: Upset Alert
Matteo Arnaldi (-150) vs. Alexandre Muller
The gap in skill level between these players is much larger than the difference in their odds, which makes Arnaldi a nice value. Arnaldi is 15-11 on clay in his ATP Tour career, and the 23-year-old Italian currently boasts a career-best No. 35 ranking. The 27-year-old Muller is ranked 90th and has never been in the top 70. He's just 11-12 on clay in his career, so even having the crowd in his corner is unlikely to be enough for the Frenchman to take this match.
Amanda Anisimova (+135) vs. Liudmila Samsonova
Anisimova has had some ups and downs on and off the court over the past few years, but the 22-year-old American is still one of the cleanest baseline ball strikers on the WTA Tour. She reached the semifinals of the 2019 French Open, so Anisimova's no stranger to success on clay. Her ranking has slipped to No. 231 after Anisimova took a break from tennis in 2023, but she's back on the upswing in 2024. Anisimova reached the Round of 16 at the Australian Open, beating Samsonova 6-3, 6-4 in the second round. Overall, Anisimova leads their head-to-head 2-0 with a pair of straight sets wins.
Honorable Mention
Stan Wawrinka (+115) vs. Pavel Kotov
French Open Odds: Lock It In
Ons Jabeur (-270) vs. Camila Osorio
Jabeur has had a tough start to 2024, but this is around the time of year that the talented Tunisian has heated up in recent years. She reached at least the Round of 16 in three of the previous four French Opens, including a quarterfinal result last year. The 77th-ranked Osorio lacks the weapons to dictate play against the 9th-ranked Jabeur, so Jabeur will be able to step in and have her opponent running from corner to corner to retrieve drop shots and well placed deep groundstrokes. Both of their previous encounters were straight sets Jabeur victories.
Danielle Collins (-400) vs. Olga Danilovic
Collins has been a top-five player over the past two months, with a 23-3 record since the start of the Miami Open. The locked-in American should keep rolling against the 125th-ranked Danilovic, who was 2-8 in her last 10 matches against top-95 opponents before beating 92nd-ranked Martina Trevisan in the first round here. Collins and Danilovic surprisingly came down to a third-set tiebreak in Madrid last month, but the No. 11 seed should have an easier time in this higher-stakes rematch.
Honorable Mention
Sebastian Korda (-600) vs. Soonwoo Kwon
French Open Predictions: Value Bets
Fabian Marozsan (+205) vs. Grigor Dimitrov
After bursting into the scene with a surprising clay-court win over Carlos Alcaraz last year, Marozsan has quickly established a reputation as a tough out on the biggest stages. He has reached at least the Round of 16 in all four of his career Masters 1000 main draw appearances and is looking for his second third-round appearance in as many 2024 Grand Slams. Dimitrov has a pedestrian 18-13 career French Open record, and this is the only Grand Slam in which he hasn't been to at least the quarterfinals. Look for the first career meeting between the 33-year-old Dimitrov and 24-year-old Marozsan to come down to the wire.
Brandon Nakashima (+230) vs. Hubert Hurkacz
Hurkacz struggled in the first round against 162nd-ranked Shintaro Mochizuki, who came into that match with a 3-15 career ATP Tour record and no Tour-level wins in 2024. The No. 8 seed fell behind two sets to one before ultimately prevailing 6-3 in the fifth, but Hurkacz will need to play better to beat the 22-year-old Nakashima, whose current ranking of No. 84 doesn't do his ability justice. Nakashima broke out in 2022, cracking the top 50 and reaching at least the third round in the last three majors of that year, but injuries derailed his 2023 season. Unlike most Americans, Nakashima has a rock-solid backhand and covers the court well while not being overly reliant on the serve and forehand, so he doesn't have glaring weaknesses that can be exploited on clay. Between Nakashima's return skills and the slow clay partially neutralizing Hurkacz's big serve, this has the makings of a tough matchup for the Pole, who is just 7-6 in his career at the French Open.
Honorable Mention
Yafan Wang (+195) vs. Dayana Yastremska
