The French Open starts at the end of May and preparations for the second Grand Slam event of the season are well underway with both the ATP and WTA Rome taking place this week.
Rafael Nadal is targeting a 10th title at this event and heads the betting for the men’s event along with Novak Djokovic. Stefanos Tsitsipas made the final of the Barcelona Open recently and is an upcoming force on clay worth keeping an eye on.
In the women’s tournament, meanwhile, all eyes will be on Ashleigh Barty after she saw her 16-match winning run on clay ended in the Madrid Open final at the weekend, while Simona Halep looks to defend her title in Italy. Iga Swiatek could be a value selection as she looks to build on last year’s French Open success.
Ready for Rome
(via @InteBNLdItalia) #IBI21 pic.twitter.com/pPG5qCq5gh
— ATP Tour (@atptour) May 10, 2021
Schwartzman Could Be Made to Work Hard By Canadian Starlet
Neither Diego Schwartzman nor Felix Auger-Aliassime have enjoyed strong starts on clay this season but history suggests punters should favour the Argentinian in Rome.
Eighth seed Schwartzman has lost three of his five matches on the surface in 2021 but impressed on clay last year, when he reached the final of this event, losing to Novak Djokovic. But Schwartzman had beaten Rafael Nadal and Denis Shapovalov on his way to the final and also made the last four of the French Open.
He looks reasonably priced at 10/19 to win with Auger-Aliassime 31/20 in the match result market but with Schwartzman dropping sets in five of his last six competitive assignments, a bet on the Argentinian to win 2-1 could represent value at 13/5.
Berrettini Can Build On Madrid Success
Elsewhere in the men’s tournament, Matteo Berrettini will begin his ATP Rome campaign only two days after losing to Alexander Zverev in the final of the Madrid Open.
Italian Berrettini only dropped one set on his way to the final of that event and in his home country is worth backing to start with a 2-0 win over Nikoloz Basilashvili at 20/23.
Muguruza Should Be Wary of Confident Russian
Garbine Muguruza was not involved in the recent Madrid Open and looks a little short at 10/31 to defeat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the WTA Rome.
Russian Pavlyuchenkova progressed unseeded to the semi-finals of last week’s event in Spain, claiming comfortable wins over Madison Keys, sixth seed Karolina Pliskova, Jennifer Brady and Karolina Muchova on her way to the final. She has had some time to rest for the tournament in Italy and is worth a bet at +4.5 in the handicap games market.
Bencic Can Once Again Down Mladenovic
Swiss talent Belinda Bencic enjoyed a pretty strong campaign in Madrid, making the semi-finals of the doubles and quarter-finals of the singles, and she can continue her success on clay against Kristina Mladenovic.
Bencic beat Mladenovic in straight sets in her first game in Madrid and to get more out of her 20/49 match result price, punters should opt for a Bencic to win 2-0 correct score bet at 21/20.
*All odds correct at time of writing
