Ricky Dimon
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The French Open is off and running, and first-round action will continue on Monday. It features a jam-packed schedule of play that is headlined by a showdown between Rafael Nadal and Alexander Zverev. Jannik Sinner, Daniil Medvedev and Gael Monfils are also taking the court, while the women’s side includes matches involving Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff.
Let’s take a look at the best bets to be made on the Day 2 schedule.
Marcos Giron -2.5 games over Josef Kovalik (-110)
Normally I wouldn’t be inclined to put my eggs in the Marcos Giron basket on this particular surface, but you have to feel good about his chances when he is playing against Kovalik. The 31-year-old Slovak is toiling away down at 145th in the rankings and he needed a lucky-loser spot at Roland Garros after losing in qualifying to Roman Andres Burruchaga. Kovalik has not played a single main-draw match on the main tour in 2024, so I doubt he is ready for this kind of pressure at a Grand Slam. Giron has clay-court wins this spring over Denis Shapovalov and Emil Ruusuvuori, so it’s not like the American is hopeless on dirt. I expect him to roll.
Gael Monfils +3.5 games over Thiago Seyboth Wild (-120)
I compiled a 2-1 record on Day 1, with my lone loss coming when betting against a Frenchman (Corentin Moutet ended up beating Nicolas Jarry). I won’t be making the same mistake twice…at least not twice in consecutive days. Home-court advantage is a very real thing in Paris, where the French crowd is raucous when a player from the host nation is on the court. The fans pushed Monfils to an epic win over Sebastian Baez last spring and I expect a similar story on Monday. Monfils is playing well (still ranked a solid 37th at 37 years old), whereas Seyboth Wild has a losing record overall this season (12-14) and even a losing record on his favored clay-court surface (8-9). At the very least Monfils should be competitive, but I anticipate the veteran pulling off an outright upset.
Parlay: Sebastian Baez -1.5 sets over Gustavo Heide and Daniil Medvedev -1.5 sets over Dominik Koepfer (+108)
Yes, I understand that Baez lost in the first round last year. However, it goes without saying that Gustavo Heide is not Gael Monfils. Baez should have no trouble with a 22-year-old opponent who is ranked #174 in the world. Heide’s lifetime match record at the ATP level is 1-2. Meanwhile, Medvedev should also be able to make it out of the opening round this time around. He is 3-0 in his head-to-head series with Koepfer, including 8-1 in total sets. The fifth-ranked Russian may not be at his best on clay, but he won the Rome title last year and is a former semifinalist at Roland Garros.
