Ricky Dimon
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The first quarterfinal spots at the French Open were handed out on Sunday. Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz and Coco Gauff were among those who snatched them up. The remaining places in the last eight of both the men’s and women’s draws will be secured on Monday, when Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev are taking the court.
Let’s take a look at some of the best bets to be made for Day 9.
Andrey Rublev ML over Jannik Sinner (-118)
In what looks like a toss-up on paper and is basically being treated as such by the oddsmakers, Jannik Sinner will have to be 100% in order to beat Andrey Rublev. The Italian probably won’t be. He has been dealing with injuries throughout this 2022 campaign, the most recent of which appears to be a left-knee problem sustained during Saturday’s third-round victory over Mackenzie McDonald. Sinner managed to win that match in straight sets, but he needed to save a ridiculous 11 set points in the second. Rublev required 4 sets on Saturday, but that was against Cristian Garin — one of the best clay-court players on tour. The world No. 7 has been to 4 Grand Slam quarterfinals in his career and he will likely take advantage of a hobbled opponent to make it 5.
Daria Kasatkina vs Camila Giorgi Over 21 games (-115)
Camila Giorgi is one of the most mercurial players in the sport. The Italian can beat anyone in the world when she’s hot, but she can also lose to anyone in the top 500 — or maybe even top 1,000 — if she’s off her game. More often than not those wild swings happen within a single match. A case in point: Giorgi dropped the opening set to Aryna Sabalenka in the third round only to take the next 2 sets 6-1, 6-0. Of her last 6 matches, 5 have gone to three sets. At the Madrid tournament earlier this month, all 3 of Kasatkina’s matches required a decisive set. A game total of 21 is not large, so the over has to be the play.
Parlay: Daniil Medvedev ML over Marin Cilic and Jessica Pegula ML over Irina-Camelia Begu (-104)
As it stands, Medevedev, Rublev and the rest of the Russian contingent won’t be allowed to participate at Wimbledon. They seem eager to make up for it by doing well at the French Open. So far this fortnight Medvedev has not dropped a single set through 3 rounds and no set has been more competitive than 6-4. The world No. 2 is sweeping the head-to-head series against Marin Cilic 3-0. He prevailed at Wimbledon last summer in addition to earning straight-set victories in Washington, D.C. 3 years ago and in the Davis Cup Finals last fall.
Begu has been on tour since 2009 and not once in her career has she reached the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam. Congratulations to her if she finally accomplishes that feat at 31 years old, but there is no reason to think it is going to happen. The Romanian has benefited from a great draw in Paris, including a third-round date with world No. 285 Leolia Jeanjean. In the opening round Begu needed a final-set tiebreaker to get past 55th-ranked Jasmine Paolini. Pegula is obviously a steep step up in competition. The American comes in at No. 11 in the rankings and she has advanced to the quarterfinals in each of the past 2 Australian Opens. Pegula is no stranger to the big stage and she should thrive on it against Begu.
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