French Open day 5 predictions: Four betting tips to consider for Thursday’s action

The French Open continues at Roland Garros on Thursday, with day four providing plenty more drama as Casper Ruud and Emma Raducanu were among the names to bow out in the second round.

Ruud joined Daniil Medvedev as a notable name to exit the men’s singles tournament, while Raducanu brought a short campaign to an end in a match few expected her to win.

But plenty of the world’s best players remain in contention in both the men’s and women’s tournaments, with Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic, Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff among those still standing at this early stage.

Day five sees Sinner and Djokovic in action, while British hopeful Cameron Norrie faces Argentine Federico Gomez and world number two Coco Gauff continues her campaign against junior champion Tereza Valentova.

Unsurprisingly, tennis betting sites have Sinner, Gauff, Djokovic and Norrie as clear favourites ahead of their respective matches, though with such short odds on offer for the outright results we’ve compiled a small accumulator bet including each match-up, with combined odds of 24/1 with Bet365.

Novak Djokovic returns to Paris hoping to land a fourth French Open title at Roland Garros, having won in 2016, 2021 and 2023. But despite previous success here, this is the major that the Serbian has won the least, having conceded a walkover to Casper Ruud in the quarter-finals in 2024.

The 38-year-old won the Geneva Open as a warm-up for this tournament, finally securing his 100th ATP Tour-level title, and beat American Mackenzie McDonald 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 in the first round to get to this point.

However, other recent tournament performances have been a little disappointing for Djokovic, who lost in the round of 64 in the Madrid Open, the round of 32 in Monte Carlo and the final of the Miami Open.

He faces home hopeful Corentin Moutet in round two, with the 26-year-old having defeated compatriot Clement Tabur in three sets to advance.

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But the Frenchman is hoping to reach the third round for just the third time and it should be a stretch too far for him, with Djokovic looking on decent form having won 81 per cent of first-serve points and 74 per cent of his second serves against McDonald.

And with that in mind, we’re going with Djokovic to win in straight sets, which is offered at 4/5 with Bet365.

French Open Day 5 prediction 1: Novak Djokovic to beat Corentin Moutet in straight sets - 4/5 Bet365

World number one Jannik Sinner returned from his suspension to make the final of his home tournament in the Rome Open earlier this month, though the loss to Carlos Alcaraz in that showpiece proved that the three months off may have affected his match fitness and sharpness.

The Italian advanced to this stage with a 6-4, 6-3, 7-5 win over Arthur Rinderknech in round one, and as the 23-year-old hunts his first French Open title, he faces a rematch from this stage last year as he once again faces veteran Frenchman Richard Gasquet at Roland Garros.

Gasquet has announced that he will retire after this home tournament, and home fans will be desperate for him to upset the French Open odds on Thursday after beating compatriot Terence Atmane in the first round.

However, it is not looking promising for the 38-year-old, who has lost his last three matches against Sinner including a 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 loss at this stage in 2024.

Considering Sinner’s explosive return and status as world number one, we’re going with Sinner to win in under 26.5 total games, at evens with Bet365.

French Open Day 5 prediction 2: Jannik Sinner to win, under 26.5 games - 1/1 Bet365

British hopeful Cameron Norrie comes into the second round as favourite hoping to equal his best performance at Roland Garros, with a win taking him into round three for just the fourth time.

The 29-year-old is a former British number one and world number eight, though his best major performance remains a semi-final berth at Wimbledon in 2021.

But he seems to have recovered from recent injuries and a dip in form over the last few months, having performed well in the Geneva Open when taking Djokovic to a deciding set in their semi-final.

In addition, the Briton stunningly beat world number 11 Daniil Medvedev in round one in Paris to secure his spot here, with a hard-fought five-set victory showing that he is capable of digging in where necessary.

Fortunately he is unlikely to need the same effort to beat Federico Gomez, with the world number 144 playing at Roland Garros for the first time.

The Argentinian has won three Challenger events on clay within the last year or so, and although he’s an unknown quantity in major tournaments, he could prove more difficult an opponent than suggested by the 1/8 odds in Norrie’s favour.

And so, with little value on offer on the more straightforward bets, we’re suggesting a wager on Norrie to win 3-1, which is offered at various betting sites at odds of 12/5.

French Open Day 5 prediction 3: Cameron Norrie to beat Federico Gomez 3-1 - 12/5 William Hill

World number two Coco Gauff enters the French Open after back-to-back finals in the Madrid and Rome Opens, though she eventually lost both – to world number one Aryna Sabalenka and number four Jasmine Paolini.

The 21-year-old began her campaign at Roland Garros with a convincing 6-2, 6-2 win over Olivia Gadecki, and looks to be carrying over her promising form from the last couple of months to events in Paris.

And the American faces 18-year-old Tereza Valentova in her major debut, with the Czech hopeful having won three qualifiers before beating French opponent Chloe Paquet 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 in round one.

Valentova is the reigning junior champion at Roland Garros, but Gauff’s strong serve and aggressive play, combined with her overall quality on clay, will likely be far too much for the youngster on her tour-level debut.

And with that in mind, we’re backing Gauff – a finalist here in 2022 – to win fairly easily. And with several of her last few early tournament matches having seen around 16 games, we think a wager on there being under 17.5 games in the match could provide value at evens with BoyleSports.

French Open Day 5 prediction 4: Under 17.5 games in Coco Gauff vs Tereza Valentova - 1/1 BoyleSports

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