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French Open predictions and tennis betting tips: Diego looks to be flying again

Back-to-best Diego Schwartzman to boss Alcaraz's conqueror Jan-Lennard Struff

Diego Schwartzman has a chance in Madrid
Diego Schwartzman has a chance in MadridCredit: Julian Finney

Free tennis tips, best bets and analysis for day nine of the French Open singles at Roland Garros, Paris on Monday.

Where to watch

ITV4 & Eurosport, from 10am, Monday

Best bets

Diego Schwartzman -3.5 games v Jan-Lennard Struff
2pts 3-4 Coral, Ladbrokes

Sloane Stephens to beat Barbora Krejcikova
2pts 6-4Betfred, Hills

Sloane Stephens to win at least a set v Barbora Krejcikova
2pts 8-15 bet365

Preview

Diego Schwartzman v Jan-Lennard Struff

Diego Schwartzman looks back to his best in the French Open and the Argentinian should have too much for Jan-Lennard Struff in their fourth-round rumble in Paris.

Tenth seed Schwartzman, coached by the savvy Juan Ignacio Chela and Leonard Olguin, looks as if he may have trod a different path in this year's European clay season.

Last year's Rome Masters finalist failed to sparkle in the tournaments leading up to Roland Garros, winning just two of his seven slow-court outings.

However, judging by Schwartzman's fine performances in the first week in Paris, where he wasn't taken to a tiebreak in winning his nine sets, it's possible that he may have been saving himself more for the big one.

Struff is given a chance of posting another upset by oddsmakers, who would have been delighted with his straight-sets win over well-backed novice Carlos Alcaraz.

However, while the German ATP main-tour title maiden is playing well, experience won the day in that third-round encounter.

And while Struff is two years and four months older than Schwartzman, experience is unlikely to help him much in his last-16 clash.

It's one win each on the head-to-heads. Schwartzman won 6-3 6-0 on the Monte Carlo clay in 2017 and Struff 6-3 7-6 in a Davis Cup hard-court clash in Madrid in 2019.

But Schwartzman should find a way to nudge ahead in their personal series and dominate the world number 42 before long – and quite possibly throughout the match – and the favourite looks well worth chancing to make light of a modest games-handicap concession.

Sloane Stephens v Barbora Krejcikova

Barbora Krejcikova has stepped up to a higher level this season, but while oddsmakers reckon the promising Czech could have too much for fourth-round opponent Sloane Stephens the value may well lie with the American once again.

It's odd why bookmakers seldom place their faith in Stephens. Perhaps it's the amount of losses she accrues on the occasions she seems barely interested in prospering, but the 2017 US Open champion and 2018 French Open finalist remains a top-order performer when she's on her game.

That said, while Stephens' second-round victory over Karolina Pliskova came as little surprise, her last 32 triumph over Karolina Muchova was something else. And if she can stop Muchova, a fiercely determined Czech who is notoriously difficult to beat, she may well be able to deny Krejcikova, who is a lot newer to tasting success, in their first career meeting.

Stephens also gets the nod on experience – the Floridian is 28 while her opponent is 25.

World number 33 Krejcikova is on a long winning run of form. She defeated Caroline Garcia, Ekaterina Alexandrova and Sorana Cirstea in the course of winning the Strasbourg International in the final prep week for Roland Garros and she also beat Sofia Kenin before being pipped by Iga Swiatek in Rome.

So there is definitely hope for Krejcikova, who was a 200-1 shot when making the Dubai final in February, but that recent long run of matches may also count against her when faced with a Grand Slam-winning opponent like Stephens.

The Floridian, who sits at a lowly 59th in the rankings, looks the bet at odds-against, and she can be backed to win at least one set too.

Other matches

Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are scheduled to play their last-16 matches, but Roger Federer elected to pull out of Roland Garros in order not to inflame a reported knee issue for Wimbledon.

The veteran was due to play Italy's Matteo Berrettini, who gets a bye into the quarter-finals.

Punters can consider supporting Jannik Sinner with a handicap start of 8.5, or possibly 9.5, frames against Nadal.

Sinner will be trying to make it third time lucky against the 13-time Roland Garros champion and he gave Nadal plenty of food for thought on the Paris clay last autumn in a 7-6 6-4 6-1 loss. And the young Italian was disappointed to lose 7-5 6-4 to the Majorcan in Rome last month.

Like Nadal, Djokovic takes on another 19-year-old Italian, in his case Lorenzo Musetti. The favourite is just 4-9 to win in straight sets and while he is highly likely to concede his young opponent a 1.5 sets start, he's unfathomably skinny odds to do so.

Promising Ukrainian 18-year-old Marta Kostyuk could be considered with a handicap start of 6.5 games for her date with women's champion Iga Swiatek, but the Pole did not drop more than five games in each of her seven singles outing last autumn. She dropped six games in her last-32 outing this year, though, against Anett Kontaveit.

Cori Gauff may be able to deny Ons Jabeur, although the Tunisian is a doughty performer on clay, while Maria Sakkari faces a battle royal against last year's finalist Kenin.


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Adrian HumphriesRacing Post Sport

Published on 6 June 2021inTennis tips

Last updated 15:33, 6 June 2021

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