French Open Final Preview by James
French Open Finals weekend is here and unsurprisingly, the men’s showpiece features Spanish maestro Rafael Nadal bidding for yet another Roland Garros crown.
Regardless of the result on Sunday, when it’s all said and done we all remember Nadal as the greatest clay court player we’ve ever seen; but winning his ninth French Open would cement that title and finally see him overtake Max Decugis long-held record of 8 Parisian titles.
The only man standing between Nadal and this coveted piece of tennis history is former world no. 1 and current no. 2, Novak Djokovic. Djokovic is a six-time major winner himself, though the French Open title is the one major crown that has eluded him thus far in his career. The Serbian previously reached the final here in 2010, where he ultimately lost to his Spanish foe in four sets: 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5. That was but one of their many encounters (41 in all), meaning these players will be very familiar with each other’s playing styles. Nadal holds the upper hand in their head-to-head rivalry thus far, with 22 wins to Djokovic’s 19 but the small gap in these numbers does indicate how well-matched these players are. It’s arguably the best rivalry tennis has to offer right now (sadly, Federer’s best days are now behind him) and this latest chapter promises to be just as compelling as the previous 41.
Given his form, I have pick Nadal to come out on top on this occasion. He didn’t just beat Andy Murray in Friday’s semi-final, Nadal utterly dominated and humiliated him. It was a masterclass in clay-court tennis and with the Spaniard in such fine form, it’s hard to see how anyone can beat him right now. If there’s one player in the world who stands a chance it’s Djokovic – who’s had a very impressive tournament himself – but given the combination of Nadal’s form and the historical implications that are on the line, I’d have to back him to win this one.
We have prices for some fascinating spreads markets to get your teeth into on our new interactive website for this match and plenty more available on through our new trader chat feature. I myself think there might be some value to be had on the total games market, with each set likely to be a close fought affair. If this match goes the distance, I can certainly envision it reaching around 50 total games (10 or so per set), which would net me a nice return!
Either way, it promises to be an exciting culmination to a what has been an excellent tournament and with Wimbledon already on the horizon, there’ll be much more top quality tennis action to get punting on in the coming weeks!
- Any spread prices quoted are indicative and as always prices are subject to fluctuation.
- Please note the opinion, views and forecasts above are of the author and not of Star Spreads.
