Rafael Nadal enters the French Open on the back of some indifferent form and recent results but he starts out overwhelming favourite to win this year’s French Open.
Nadal is aiming to win his 13th French Open title and given his record at Roland-Garros, is understandably still a huge favourite, with odds of 11/10 to achieve what was one thought to be unthinkable. This time, however, the pandemic has ensured the gulf between him and two other players has reduced considerably.
Dominic Thiem has been Nadal’s under-study when it comes to the next player expected to win the French Open. He has finished runner-up at Roland-Garros and more importantly enters the tournament on the back of winning the US Open earlier in September.
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His only issue will be the fact he hasn’t played a single match on clay on the tour. Thiem did feature in a few clay court tournaments including the Thiem’s 7 Invitational earlier this season but missed the Rome Masters and Hamburg Open in the lead-up to the French Open.
Which is probably why despite having a solid record on clay and deemed to be the next big player outside the Big Three at the French Open, Thiem starts at 15/4 with 888Sport (who also own the Blighty Bingo which you could try here).
Instead, the second favourite is Novak Djokovic. The Serb has won one title at Roland-Garros before this and is aiming to become the first player to complete a Career Slam twice over and has form by his side.
Other than the default at the US Open where Djokovic was a heavy favourite to win the title but got knocked out because of his own but inadvertent error, he is yet to lose a match this season. The Serb enters the French Open on the back of a tightly-contested Rome Masters, but one that saw him win the tournament again, making it his fifth title of the year.
With Nadal having remained away from tennis for nearly seven months and Thiem opting not to play any pre-tournament clay competitions, Djokovic, who starts off 21/10 to win the title, could just possess the firepower to go the distance.
In his side of the draw, Djokovic has Matteo Berrettini, whom he might play in the quarterfinal, Daniil Medvedev or Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semifinals. Neither of these players have shown their prowess on the red dirt, which makes it that much easier for Djokovic to sail through to the final.
On the other side, Nadal and Thiem could clash in the semifinal, but even before that the Austrian could face Diego Schwartzman in the quarterfinal, while the Spaniard might have Alexander Zverev for company in the last eight. Both potentially tough match-ups.
We would never count out Nadal in a clay court tournament but the chances of Djokovic winning the French Open look brighter than they have done in recent years.
Get the match by match French Open 2020 predictions here.
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