ATP Roland Garros Odds: Alcaraz, Djokovic Continue to Lead the Way in Men’s Singles Draw

Americans Fritz and Tiafoe Looking to Stick Around for a While at Roland Garros

After the stunning loss by No. 2 seed Daniil Medvedev in the opening round of the French Open, things got back to normal in the men’s draw at Roland Garros.

There are 19 seeded players who made it through to the third round. Many of the pre-tournament favorites continue to lead the way in the ATP Roland Garros odds.

The biggest news in the second round when it came to Roland Garros scores were the losses by eighth-seeded Jannik Sinner and No. 19 Roberto Bautista Agut. Alex De Minaur and Americans Tommy Paul and Sebastian Korda also fell in the Round of 64.

Novak Djokovic has yet to lose a set and the same is true for No. 17 Lorenzo Musetti.

The second round was not kind for the homegrown talent as Frenchmen Lucas Pouille, Marton Kovacevic, Luca Van Assche, Ugo Humbert, Corentin Moutet, and Arthur Rinderknech. Gael Monfils was injured late in the first-round win over Sebastian Baez and unable to step onto the court to meet No. 6 seed Holger Rune Rune had a walkover into the Round of 32 as no players representing France advanced to the third round.

Here’s An Update on how things stand with just 32 players left to vie for the men’s singles title at the French Open.

Heavyweights Still on Collision Course

There’s plenty of tennis left to be played. However, top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz and two-time champion Novak Djokovic have taken care of business as they could ultimately meet in the semifinals.

Alcaraz did lose a set in the second round to Taro Daniel before dropping just three games in the third and fourth sets to set up a showdown with No. 26 seed Denis Shapovalov. The winner of that match draws either No. 14 seed Cameron Norrie or No. 17 Musetti in the fourth round with the dangerous Stefanos Tsitsipas possibly lurking in the quarterfinals.

Djokovic did have to win a couple of tiebreakers. Other than that, it has been clear sailing so far. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, the No. 29 seed, is next for Djokovic. Andrey Rublev, Karen Khachanov, and Hubert Hurkacz are the other seeded players in Djokovic’s quarter. Djokovic is 16-2 against Rublev, Khachanov and Hurkacz.

There has been little movement in the odds for either of the top two contenders with Alcaraz now at +140 to win the title after opening at +120 and Djokovic going from +175 to +210.

Seeded Americans Finding A Way

The two remaining seeded players from the United States got off to sluggish starts in the second round. The ATP Roland Garros odds don’t view any of the remaining Americans among the tournament front-runners.

Ninth-seeded Taylor Fritz dropped the first set to France’s Rinderknech before advancing 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3. It was a similar story for No. 12 seed Frances Tiafoe against qualifier Aslan Karatsev.

Both Fritz and Tiafoe could have challenging third-round matches. Fritz will face No. 23 seed Francisco Cerundolo with a possible showdown with No. 6 seed Rune awaiting in the next match.

Tiafoe has dropped six of his seven career meetings with Alexander Zverev. However, they haven’t met since 2021 and haven’t played on clay.

If Tiafoe can find a way to dispatch Zverev, he won’t need to deal with No. 8 seed Jannik Sinner as Sinner was upset in the second round.

The other American to reach the third round was Marcos Giron. He had no problems with Jiri Lehecka, who was coming off a win over No. 21 seed Jan-Lennard Struff.

Fritz leads the Americans at +6600 in the odds to win at Roland Garros.

Bottoming Out?

The bottom half of the bracket already lost the No. 2 and 8 seeds. That leaves Casper Ruud, seeded fourth, as the top seed in that portion of the draw. Ruud reached the 2022 finals at Roland Garros. However, he is flying under the radar so far in this year’s tournament when it comes to the ATP Roland Garros odds.

Ruud has lost just one set in the first two rounds. With Struff, No. 25 seed Botic Van De Zandschulp, and No. 16 seed Tommy Paul all being eliminated, he won’t face a seeded player until the fourth round at the earliest. Still, his title odds are mostly unchanged as his odds range from +1000 to +1400. Holger Rune, now at +550 after opening at +700, is drawing plenty of interest.

No. 28 seed Grigor Dimitrov is looming in this part of the draw and he is coming off a run to the finals in Geneva. It was his first ATP tour tournament final since 2017 with a win over Fritz included in his week’s work in Geneva.

Only One Former Champion Left

With the retirement of Roger Federer and a hip injury keeping 14-time champion Rafael Nadal out of this year’s French Open, Djokovic joined 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka as the only former champs in this year’s field.

The unseeded Wawrinka won in five sets against Albert Ramos-Vinolas. Wawrinka went the distance again in the Round of 64. However, his run ended with a loss to wild card Thanasi Kokkinakis.

If Djokovic fails to advance to the final, it would mark the first time since 2004 that the men’s singles final wouldn’t feature at least one of the big three of Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic.

Can’t get enough? Here’s more!

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• ATP Roland Garros Odds: Favorites Alcaraz and Djokovic Could Meet in a Star-Studded Semifinal
  
• WTA Roland Garros Odds Preview: Despite Leg Injury, Champion Swiatek Still The Fav
  
• Italian Open Preview: Could Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz Be On A Collision Course?