French Open men's semi-final predictions, tips and odds: Second seed Zverev may face a stern test from top youngster Mensik

French Open date, start time & TV info 

Date Sunday, May 24 to Sunday, June 7
Starts Sunday 10am
Venue Roland Garros, Paris
TV TNT Sports

French Open men's semi-final predictions

Jakub Mensik +1.5 sets vs Alexander Zverev
2pts 29-20 Coral, Ladbrokes

Jakub Mensik to beat Alexander Zverev
1pt 16-5 Betfair, BoyleSports, Paddy Power

Flavio Cobolli -2.5 games vs Matteo Arnaldi
1pt 6-10 William Hill

French Open men's semi-final preview

Aryna Sabalenka, the last really big name standing in the singles, exited the stage on Wednesday, this really has been the most surprising French Open, and Grand Slam tournament in general, in years.

That often makes for a breath of fresh air and while the majors, and particularly the men's singles, tend to favour punters who stick with the big names, it's quite likely that outsider backers will already be purring following events on the Paris clay in recent days.

Alexander Zverev has been the favourite to lift the men's trophy on Sunday ever since ante-post hot favourite Jannik Sinner was upended by Juan Manuel Cerundolo in round two. But while the German has been going along nicely in the French capital, he is still a maiden at major level after coming up short in Grand Slam singles finals on three occasions.

Jakub Mensik vs Alexander Zverev predictions (1.30pm)

Alexander Zverev and Jakub Mensik have had three days' rest following their quarter-final triumphs so they are first up on Friday and this is without doubt the more fascinating of the men's semi-finals.

Zverev beat Mensik in their only previous competitive encounter in the Madrid Masters just over a month ago, the German coming through fairly comfortably by a 6-4 7-6 6-3 scoreline.

But while that result, allied to his higher Roland Garros seeding of second compared to Mensik's 26th, means Zverev is a warm market leader to progress to Sunday's final, punters need to factor into the equation the players' ages and the fact that the Czech outsider's level has stepped up a notch or two in Paris.

Mensik has already won a tournament that used to go by the handle of the fifth major - the Miami Masters. The 20-year-old upset Novak Djokovic in the final of Florida's premier tournament two years ago. Grand Slam title maiden Zverev has never gone all the way in Miami, having lost in the final to John Isner in 2018.

In short, while Zverev, 29, is playing well and has dropped only one set on the way to the last four at Roland Garros this year, the German could find it difficult to frank Madrid form with Mensik.

The 20-year-old is one of the strongest young players in the game physically, possesses huge potential on all terrain and has been dictating the pace in the majority of his outings in Paris.

Dominating against Zverev might prove trickier than against most of his previous victims but, given the quality of Mensik's game, doing that could still be within the outsider's remit.

The best ways of punting may be to back Mensik, who won 83 per cent of his first-serve points in his 6-4 6-3 7-6 quarter-final victory over Djokovic's conqueror Joao Fonseca, to win at least two sets at just under 6-4 and to upset his experienced opponent at just over 3-1.

Matteo Arnaldi vs Flavio Cobolli predictions

This year's French Open men's singles final is guaranteed to feature an Italian player as compatriots Flavio Cobolli and Matteo Arnaldi clash in the second last-four encounter at Roland Garros.

Arnaldi leads their head-to-head series 3-2 and all of their previous meetings have been on clay, but Cobolli was the dominant force in their most recent clash, in last year's French Open.

Cobolli, who at 24 is a year younger than Arnaldi, won that match 6-3 6-3 6-7 6-1. And given the promise the Tuscan has shown in the last couple of years, it's probably right to anticipate the favourite posting another solid victory.

Arnaldi is supremely fit and will scurry around for as long as needed, but last year's Hamburg champion Cobolli has a touch of class and is already a force on all surfaces.

Bookmakers offer different handicap lines but the safest bet may be to back the favourite to successfully concede a start of 2.5 games. 

Cobolli's service speed increased noticeably after his slow start in his 4-6 6-4 6-4 6-4 quarter-final victory over fourth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime - his fastest delivery was timed at 215km/h - and if the son of former pro player Stefano Cobolli starts to fire down bullets against Arnaldi in the last four, the outsider may soon come under pressure.

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