The WTA French Open competition features the second round on Thursday. The conditions in Paris have stayed very hot, and the action in the women’s tournament has not cooled down, either. Some big upsets have marked the first few days of the women’s event. Elena Rybakina and Jessica Pegula, both top-five seeds, have lost. Other high seeds have been challenged, and some of the middle or lower-seeded players have lost. Women’s tennis is deep and unpredictable, but it makes for an exciting French Open tournament. LWOS has our best bets for three matches on Thursday. Post your best bets and thoughts in the comments.
WTA French Open
Ruzic – Keys: Time 8:30 EST
H2H: 0-0
Antonia Ruzic faces Madison Keys. Ruzic is 2-3 in her last five matches, but she earned a hard-fought win over American Ashlyn Krueger in the first round. That result could feed Ruzic’s confidence going into this second-round match against another American opponent. Madison Keys is 4-1 in her last five matches. She recently made the final of the Paris WTA 125 tournament. She then turned around and defeated Hanne Vandewinkel in straight sets in the first round of French Open. Keys isn’t a great clay player, but she has had some moments of success in the past, notably the French Open semifinals several years ago.
Best Bet to Make
The price on Keys winning in straight sets just isn’t good enough to warrant a bet, so you will need to think about the game spread for this one. You could think about Keys minus 5.5 games at 1.75, but you could also consider Ruzic plus 6.5 games at 1.65. You could put down both bets and try to hit the middle. However, if you had to pick just one bet of the two, we are going to go with Ruzic because of the confident way she is playing. This doesn’t feel like a complete blowout. Ruzic will put up just enough of a fight to cover a medium-sized spread.
That being said, betting on Ruzic +6.5 games is a value bet for sure.
Value bet/ the best odds: Ruzic +6.5 games @1.65 @10Bet
Gauff – Sherif: Time 8:30 EST
H2H: 1–0
Coco Gauff faces Mayar Sherif. Gauff is the defending French Open champion. She had a bumpy first set in her opening-round match against Taylor Townsend, but she got through it, breaking Townsend to finish the set 6-4. Then she relaxed in the second set and played elite tennis, winning the set 6-0 to finish off a comfortable win. Gauff began her title defense with a relatively smooth performance which should make her happy. Sherif beat Dalma Galfi in straight sets to open her French Open campaign. Let’s see if she can carry that level of form into this match against Gauff.
Best Bet to Make
Gauff winning in straight sets won’t offer much of a return at all, so you need to think about the game spread. The evenly-priced spreads are 6.5 games and 7.5 games, with Sherif plus 6.5 games being juiced, and Gauff minus 7.5 games being juiced. If anything, Sherif plus 6.5 games might offer added value of those two. The safer bet, which still offers decent value, is Sherif plus 7.5 games. Gauff struggled in the first set against Townsend, and it seems that Sherif can at least win five games in this match, at least three in one of the two sets.
That being said, betting on Sherif +7.5 games is a value bet for sure.
Value bet/ the best odds: Sherif +7.5 games @1.60 @Interwetten
Sakkari – Liu: Time 8:30 EST
H2H: 0–0
Maria Sakkari faces Claire Liu. Sakkari scored a very impressive win over No. 12 seed Linda Noskova in the first round. Sakkari was down 5-2 in the second set but rallied to win that set and knock out a top-15 seed. Claire Liu won her match in the first round when Moyuka Uchijima retired in the third set, but Liu was winning on the scoreboard when that retirement occurred. Two players who both notched important victories will have a lot of confidence going into this match.
Best Bet to Make
You could go with over 2.5 sets here, since both players are in good form, but with Liu playing some of the best tennis of her career, it seems like a safer bet to count on Liu winning one set. Sakkari did trail Noskova 5-2 in the second set of her match earlier this week, so it’s not as though Sakkari should have won that match in straight sets. She was fortunate to do that. Liu plus 1.5 sets feels like the decent-value bet which is most likely to hit.
That being said, betting on Liu +1.5 sets is a value bet for sure.
Value bet/ the best odds: Liu +1.5 sets @1.70 @10Bet
Main Photo Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports
