Thursday's French Open Predictions: The Panel's Best Betting Tips And Preview

Thursday’s French Open Predictions

• The Panel Tip 1: Yulia Putintseva To Beat Paula Babosa - 13/10 With Bet365
• The Panel Tip 2: Mayar Sherif +1.5 Sets Vs Madison Keys - 21/20 With Coral
• The Panel Tip 3: Over 37.5 Games in Flavio Cobolli Vs Holger Rune - 17/20 With Unibet
• The Panel Tip 4: Tomas Martin Etcheverry To Beat Arthur Rinderknech 3-1 - 29/10 With Ladbrokes

The French Open has largely gone to form so far, but could Thursday be the day we are finally treated to a few upsets? 

The day’s order of play is littered with potential banana skins for those seeds in action, although that schedule is subject to change with the Paris weather refusing to play ball. 

Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal’s conquer Alexander Zverev and Casper Ruud are among the big names due to play their second-round matches in the men’s singles, with Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka the big draws in the women’s event.

For the most part, The Panel have steered clear of the big names when making their selections for Thursday and have focused their attention elsewhere when studying the odds on UK betting sites.

French Open Prediction: Putintseva Value To Knock Out Slugger Babosa

Yulia Putintseva made light work of a potentially tricky first-round encounter in Sloane Stephens, and The Panel believe she can maintain that form against Paula Babosa. 

The Spaniard is the favourite on tennis betting sites despite an up-and-down year and a far-from-convincing win in round one against Katie Boulter. 

After missing a good chunk of last season through injury, she’s now ranked 100 places below Putintseva, who has a more solid body of work to call upon when weighing up this encounter.

The Kazakh is 9-3 on the clay this year with two of those defeats coming against Iga Swiatek and Rybakina. Her ability to stay in rallies and pick her moments to strike marks her out as a dangerous opponent for the powerful Babosa, who made 30 unforced errors in her first round victory. 

Perhaps there’s not as much between these two as the odds suggest, and a chance is taken on Putintseva.

The Panel Tip 1: Yulia Putintseva To Beat Paula Babosa - 13/10 With Bet365

Sherif May Lay Down The Law

A 100/1 shot before the tournament, Madison Keys’ odds have been clipped significantly and she’s now no bigger than 33/1.

It’s a surprise she was triple figures before the French Open given how strong she’s been on clay this year, winning in Strasbourg, while her only losses since switching to the European red dirt have been to Swiatek. 

Keys is no bigger than 1/4 to beat second-round opponent Mayar Sherif, but she’s another player who's been performing well on clay and can’t be underestimated.

The Egyptian’s success has mainly come at a lower level on the WTA, reaching the finals of Parma, Lleida and Rabat, but she's also enjoyed a couple of wins apiece in Roma and Madrid.

She’s a more natural clay-court player than Keys and while the American’s power and aggression may see her win the day, The Panel like Sherif’s price with a +1.5 set handicap. 

The Panel Tip 2: Mayar Sherif +1.5 Sets Vs Madison Keys - 21/20 With Coral

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Cobolli Starting To Come Good

Italy is enjoying a tennis renaissance, led by Jannik Sinner, with a raft of players currently in the top 100 of the men’s rankings.

Among those looking to make a name for himself is Flavio Cobolli, a former junior Grand Slam doubles champion at the French Open who is now having an impact at senior level. 

The 22-year-old warmed up for the French Open by reaching the semi-finals in Geneva, while he enjoyed a career-best showing at a slam earlier in the year when reaching the third round of the Australian Open.

He’ll have to really step up his game to upset two-time French Open quarter-finalist Holger Rune, who has a style made for clay and made light work of Dan Evans in round one at Roland Garros. 

However, the Dane hasn’t had the most impressive run on clay this year and opponents have been able to hang around in matches against Rune. 

Cobolli’s serve is one of his strengths, and he has the power to trouble Rune, making over 37.5 total games an intriguing option on betting apps.

The Panel Tip 3: Over 37.5 Games in Flavio Cobolli Vs Holger Rune - 17/20 With Unibet

Etcheverry Faces Another French Foe

For the third match in a row, Tomas Martin Etcheverry will face a Frenchman on French soil, and it’s another big test for the talented Argentinian. 

He failed his first exam in the final at Lyon against Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard but responded well in round one at Roland Garros when beating Arthur Cazaux. 

He did drop the first set against Cazaux, and there’s a chance Arthur Rinderknech takes a set off him, having played the South American tough in Aix earlier in the season.

The 28-year-old, playing in the second round of his home grand slam for the second year running, will have the fans on side and Etcheverry can once again expect a hostile atmosphere. 

The Panel believes Etcheverry’s class should eventually tell, but that there’s a chance Rinderknech gives the home supporters something to get excited about by winning a set.

The Panel Tip 4: Tomas Martin Etcheverry To Beat Arthur Rinderknech 3-1 - 29/10 With Ladbrokes