How to bet on the French Open

The second major of the calendar year, the French Open provides tennis with its sole grand slam event on clay courts.

And what clay courts they are at the majestic Roland Garros, the iconic venue in the heart of Paris at which the French Open has been home since 1928.

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We’re closing in on nearly a century of action at the French Open, with nobody able to match the remarkable record of Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros. The Spaniard won a staggering 14 titles in a reign of terror between 2005 and 2022.

In the women’s singles, nobody can match Chris Evert’s record of seven French Open titles. 

Although Iga Swiatek has a chance of a unique slice of history of her own in 2025: she could become the first woman ever to win four consecutive editions of the tournament. 

Who's in form ahead of the ATP tournament? 

There’s four ATP Tour events that are considered perfect prep for the French Open: the Monte Carlo Masters, Barcelona Open, Madrid Open and the Italian Open.

Carlos Alcaraz, the reigning French Open champion, won in Monte Carlo, before the Spaniard was downed by Holger Rune in Barcelona. 

Former French Open finalist Casper Ruud reigned in Madrid, before Alcaraz and world number one Jannik Sinner clashed in the Italian Open final – the Spaniard running out the 7-6, 6-1 victor.

Who's in form ahead of the WTA tournament? 

Meanwhile, on the women’s WTA Tour, there’s three warm-up events that offer punters the best clues: the Porsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart, the Madrid Open and the Italian Open.

World number one Aryna Sabalenka was shocked in the final of the Porsche Grand Prix by unseeded Jelena Ostapenko.

In Madrid, Sabalenka would go one better, lifting the trophy and only dropping one set along the way. She defeated Coco Gauff 6-3, 7-6 in the final.

And finally to Rome, where local hero Jasmine Paolini enjoyed an emotional win in her home Italian Open. 

She had reached the semi-finals in Stuttgart and franked that form with victory in Rome, where the luckless Gauff was again vanquished in the final.

Men’s French Open: The last 10 champions

Here’s a chronological list of the last ten winners of the men’s singles at the French Open:

• 2015 – Stan Wawrinka (beat Novak Djokovic 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4)
• 2016 – Novak Djokovic (beat Andy Murray 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4)
• 2017 – Rafael Nadal (beat Stan Wawrinka 6-2, 6-3, 6-1)
• 2018 – Rafael Nadal (beat Dominic Thiem 6-4, 6-3, 6-2)
• 2019 – Rafael Nadal (beat Dominic Thiem 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1)
• 2020 – Rafael Nadal (beat Novak Djokovic 6-0, 6-2, 7-5)
• 2021 – Novak Djokovic (beat Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-7, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4)
• 2022 – Rafael Nadal (beat Casper Ruud 6-3, 6-3, 6-0)
• 2023 – Novak Djokovic (beat Casper Ruud 7-6, 6-3, 7-5)
• 2024 – Carlos Alcaraz (beat Alexander Zverev 6-3, 2-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2)

Women’s French Open: The last 10 champions

And here’s the last ten winners of the women’s singles at the French Open:

• 2015 – Serena Williams (beat Lucie Safarova 6-3, 6-7, 6-2)
• 2016 – Garbine Muguruza (beat Serena Williams 7-5, 6-4)
• 2017 – Jelena Ostapenko (beat Simona Halep 4-6, 6-4, 6-3)
• 2018 – Simona Halep (beat Sloane Stephens 3-6, 6-4, 6-1)
• 2019 – Ashleigh Barty (beat Marketa Vondrousova 6-1, 6-3)
• 2020 – Iga Swiatek (beat Sofia Kenin 6-4, 6-1)
• 2021 – Barbora Krejcikova (beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-1, 2-6, 6-4)
• 2022 – Iga Swiatek (beat Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-3)
• 2023 – Iga Swiatek (beat Karolina Muchova 6-2, 5-7, 6-4)
• 2024 – Iga Swiatek (beat Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 6-1)

Factors to consider when betting on the French Open 

If you’re completely new to wagering on the sport, you may find our guide on how to bet on tennis a great help; it’s packed full of handy hints and tips.

When it comes to betting on the French Open, there are some other specific factors to consider:

• Clay court surface

Clay courts tend to play a lot differently to hard courts and grass. 

The ball tends to bounce higher but slower, allowing the players more time to hit their shots. 

And so the advantage that big servers typically have is negated, while those who hit great angles, move well and excel at ‘defensive’ tennis will have an edge.

These conditions can change depending on the weather – generally, clay courts play faster in heavy, humid air, as opposed to bright sunny days, but it’s certainly something worth considering in your bets.

• Longer matches

As you may know, men’s singles matches at grand slam events are played over a best-of-five set format – rather than the standard best-of-three that you get in other ATP tournaments.

Naturally, the players will be on court for longer and contest more points… increasing the need for exceptional conditioning, fitness and movement.

When betting on the French Open, it makes sense to side with those that have proven stamina – coming through long matches, and those that have shown themselves to be comfortable in fifth set deciders.

As for the women’s singles, remember that this remains as the best-of-three – although unrelenting fitness, crucial when playing the longer rallies that generally unfold on clay, is still a factor.

• Home advantage 

You have to go back to 1988 to find the last home finalist at the French Open in the men’s singles, and 2005 in the women’s draw.

So, in that sense, you could argue that there is no home advantage at the French Open.

However, this Roland Garros crowd is loud, passionate and partisan towards their own players, so on a match-by-match basis it can certainly make a difference.

This can particularly be the case involving ‘foreign’ players that are young, inexperienced and who are perhaps making their grand slam debut – there’s nowhere to hide on court at Roland Garros.

• Top trends

If you’re having a bet on the men’s singles event at the French Open, be aware of these key facts: nine of the last ten champions were ranked inside the ATP top ten, while ten out of ten had already won a grand slam title.

Although these sorts of trends can be downed by an outlier, they’re certainly helpful in narrowing down the field.

The women’s singles tends to be more open; notwithstanding the incredible form of Iga Swiatek, who has won four of the last five editions of the French Open.

But those who have a high win percentage on clay, and who have shown form in the prep tournaments mentioned earlier, should be favoured.

French Open betting markets 

There’s literally hundreds of different ways to bet on the French Open, so let’s break them down into two categories of markets: match betting and tournament (outright) betting.

French Open match betting

The most popular tennis match betting market is, quite simply, wagering on who you think will win that particular game.

The final score is not important – just as long as your pick gets the ‘W’ – and you can combine two selections in a double (with the odds multiplied together), three as a treble, or four or more in an accumulator.

If you’d like to take a deeper dive, you can bet on various outcomes within the match. For example, the correct score market allows you to wager on what you think the final set scoreline will be. You can also try to predict the final score within a particular set.

If you think a match will be a one-sided affair, bet on the ‘unders’ side of the total games/sets market. On the flipside, if you think a match will go deep with plenty of games and sets, back the ‘overs’ side.

In matches where one player is a huge favourite, you can back them via the handicap market – this assigns a minus game or set handicap to their score, e.g. Alcaraz -1.5 sets would require the Spaniard to win by a margin of two sets or more.

Conversely, you can bet on an underdog with a plus handicap, e.g. back Jack Draper with a +2.5 set handicap against Alcaraz.

French Open outright betting

If you prefer to wager on the outcomes of the entire tournament, outright betting is for you. Betting on grand slams can differ vastly to non-grand slam events. 

The tournament winner market is the most popular. Back the player you think will lift the trophy; if you bet each way, you will secure a payout even if your pick loses in the final.

There are other outright markets too. You can bet on a player to win their quarter of the bracket draw, or their half of the draw. Or, alternatively, back them to reach the semi-finals or final.

How to watch the French Open in the UK 

If you fancy a trip to Paris, you can watch the French Open in person at Roland Garros. 

The action gets underway on Sunday, 25 May, with the women’s singles final on Saturday, 7 June, and the men’s singles final the very next day on 8 June. 

If you’re watching on from home in the UK, tune into TNT Sports and Discovery+ for the live broadcast.