Ricky Dimon
First-round competition at the French Open wraps up on Tuesday with a busy schedule. On the men’s side, Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev are taking the court. The women’s order of play is headlined by Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula and Mirra Andreeva. Let’s take a look at the French Open best bets to be made on the Day 3 schedule, while you can still find out our French Open men’s predictions and French Open women’s picks for who will win the respective singles tournaments.
French Open Parlay: Alex de Minaur ML over Laslo Djere & Jesper de Jong ML over Francesco Passaro (-130)
The only reason why Alex de Minaur vs Laslo Djere could even be remotely competitive is the surface. Djere loves clay, whereas it is De Minaur’s worst surface. However, the Aussie is so much the better overall player that the surface hardly matters. Plus it’s not like De Minaur is hopeless on dirt; he has been playing very well on it this spring. This kind of stage favors De Minaur, too, as the underdog Serb has never done anything of note at any Grand Slam and the bright lights of the French Open could impact Djere.
Meanwhile, Jesper de Jong is in outstanding form and faces one of the weakest players in the entire draw in Francesco Passaro. The Dutchman is up to #88 in the world after advancing to round 3 at the Rome Masters. Count on him improving to 2-0 lifetime against Passaro.
French Open prediction: Chloe Paquet +4.5 games over Tereza Valentova (-105)
Home-court advantage in France is a very real thing; the Parisian crowd is raucous. Chloe Paquet will be among the beneficiaries in Tuesday’s French Open action. The 30-year-old is playing well (she just reached the final of an ITF tournament) and she has a ton of experience on clay (186 such match wins throughout her career). Tereza Valentova has won 25 clay-court matches. Yes, a lot of that has to do with her age (18 years old). Still, the Czech is inexperienced both on this surface and in Grand Slams. Given the circumstances, Paquet should be competitive – and she might even win this one outright.
French Open best bet: Joao Fonseca ML over Hubert Hurkacz (-125)
Hubert Hurkacz advanced to the Geneva final this past weekend. Yes, that means he is playing well; it also means I’m avoiding him like the plague in Paris. Not only did the Pole have to play on Saturday, but he also lost a heartbreaker against Novak Djokovic. This is a physically and mentally taxing turnaround. Moreover, Hurkacz has been dealing with a knee injury since Wimbledon last summer. A heavy clay-court workload does not help matters. Nor does a first-round showdown against the most dangerous unseeded player in the entire field in Joao Fonseca. The 18-year-old Brazilian has cooled off to some extent since a hot start to his 2025 campaign, but he is well-rested and playing on a surface he loves. He should advance to the French Open second round.
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