Favorites Alive And Well In French Open Men’s Draw
Alcaraz and Djokovic Lead the Way in the 2024 Roland Garros Men's Update
Former Champs Nadal and Wawrinka Among the Early Losers at Roland Garros
Most of the big hitters are still in contention as the French Open men’s singles draw heads into the third round.
The biggest news when it comes to the 2024 Roland Garros men’s update was that 14-time champion Rafael Nadal was knocked out of the tournament that he had dominated by Alexander Zverev. Stan Wawrinka, the 2015 champion, and 2016 finalist Andy Murray have also been eliminated.
No. 16 Nicolas Jarry and No. 17 Ugo Humbert are the highest-seeded players to tumble out of the tournament.
Even with their losses, things are pretty much going according to play with most of the pre-tournament favorites alive and well at the 2024 French Open.
The French Open men’s singles outright have Carlos Alcaraz, defending champion Novak Djokovic, and Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner as the top contenders.
When looking at the Roland Garros schedule, Sinner and Alcaraz are among the players in action on Friday.
Djokovic Eyeing A Repeat At Roland Garros
There aren’t many first-time occurences left for Novak Djokovic to pursue. However, the top seed in this year’s tournament is attempting to win back-to-back French Open titles for the first time.
Djokovic won three competitive sets against wild card Pierre-Hughes Herbert to begin his title defense as the Serbian star goes after his 25th Grand Slam singles title.
A third-round match against either veteran Frenchmen Gael Monfils or No. 30 seed Lorenzo Musetti might be interesting with American Tommy Paul another of the possible fourth-round foes for Djokovic.
Casper Ruud, who has reached the last two French Open finals, could be a quarterfinal opponent for Djokovic.
The 2024 Roland Garros men’s update has Djokovic third at +450 and Ruud tied for fifth at +1000 in the French Open title odds.
Can Pre-Tournament Favorite Alcaraz Handle The Pressure?
When looking at the 2024 Roland Garros men’s update, the current betting favorite is No. 3 seed Carlos Alcaraz.
Alcaraz, priced at +225 to win the French Open for the first time, came into the tournament trying to shake off some injuries. He looked pretty healthy in a 6-1, 6-2, 6-1 win over American J.J. Wolf in the first round. He did lose a set in the second round to qualifier Jesper De Jong of the Netherlands.
Americans Ben Shelton and Sebastian Korda join Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime as potential opponents before either No. 6 seed Andrey Rublev or No. 9 Stefanos Tsitsipas could be waiting in the quarterfinals.
Tsitsipas is tied for the fifth-shortest odds at +1000 to win the French Open. Rublev is tied for seventh at +3500.
Another Slam In the Cards For Sinner?
At the Australian Open, Jannik Sinner took out No. 5 seed Rublev, No. 1 seed Djokovic, and No. 3 seed Daniil Medvedev to win his first Grand Slam singles title.
Sinner is second at +425 to win the French Open and make it two consecutive Grand Slam singles titles.
The Italian had no issues with hard-serving American Christopher Eubanks in the first round and also won in straight sets against veteran French star Richard Gasquet.
Seeded players Nicolas Jarry, Sebastian Baez, and Cameron Norrie have already fallen in Sinner’s portion of the draw. He won’t face a seeded player until the quarterfinals at the earliest. No. 8 Hubert Hurkacz, No. 10 Grigor Dimitrov, and No. 25 Frances Tiafoe are the seeded players who could meet up with Sinner in the quarterfinals.
Medvedev and Zverev On A Collision Course?
The only quarter of the draw where every seeded player advanced to the second round was the one headlined by No. 4 seed Zverev and No. 5 Daniil Medvedev. Many of the French Open expert picks have Medvedev and Zverev meeting in the quarterfinals.
Zverev is fourth at +450 in the French Open outrights with Medvedev tied for seventh at +3300.
Few Roland Garros scores in the first round drew as much attention as Zverev’s 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 win over Nadal. It was just the second straight-set loss for Nadal at the French Open.
Holger Rune (+4000), Karen Khachanov (+10000), and Alex De Minaur (+13000) are among the players who could disrupt a Medvedev-Zverev quarterfinal showdown.
What About the Americans?
There were some mixed results for the 13 Americans in the men’s singles field with seven of them going out in the first round.
Christopher Eubanks, Aleksandar Kovacevic, J.J. Wolf, Alex Michelsen, and Mackenzie McDonald all had the misfortune of drawing seeded players in the first round.
All of the seeded Americans are still alive.
Taylor Fritz (+10000) has the best French Open title odds among the Americans. Tommy Paul follows at +10000, and then Ben Shelton at +15000.
Fritz and Paul are in the same quarter as last year’s French Open finalists Djokovic and Ruud. Sebastian Korda (+20000) will face Alcaraz in the third round while veteran Kei Nishikori is next up for Shelton.
Frances Tiafoe (+40000) may contend with Hubert Hurkacz or Grigor Dimitrov sooner rather than later. There is some work to be done by the top U.S. hopes.
For Tennis news, odds analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.
