Tennis best bets for the French Open – Wednesday, May 31st
The French Open is the second major of the tennis season, and it’s the only one that is played on clay. This year’s tournament will feel a bit different without 14-time champion Rafael Nadal, but the action should be tremendous from both the men and the women. There’s nothing quite like clay-court tennis, and we’ll be here with daily best bets for all the action at Roland Garros. With that said, keep reading for our picks for Wednesday, May 31st. Make sure you also check out the Pro Picks page throughout the course of the tournament, as I’ll have some plays there that you won’t find here. I was 4-0 with the picks posted to that page yesterday.
MORE: Check out our Pro Picks page for everything our experts have
Fabio Fognini vs. Jason Kubler (Scheduled: 5:00 a.m. ET)
Fognini was fortunate to draw Felix Auger-Aliassime as his first-round opponent. That might sound odd to say with the Canadian being one of the best young players on tour, but he wasn’t healthy coming into this event. Now, Fognini takes over Auger-Aliassime’s draw after a 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 win over the 22-year-old. And the Italian really should take advantage by defeating Jason Kubler.
Kubler needed five grueling sets to win his opening-round match, and that should have him behind the eight-ball here. Kubler is already going to be at a disadvantage in longer rallies from the baseline, and that will be even harder to overcome if he doesn’t have his legs here. Fognini also comes into this match after having won four of his last six. This is a guy that can play elite-level tennis when he is locked in, and he generally tends to bring it on the red clay.
Kubler’s serve can be a legitimate weapon out there, but this tournament has been playing slow thus far. That should allow Fognini to hang around in Kubler’s service games, much like he did against Auger-Aliassime. That’s going to make it very difficult for the Australian to compete in this match, making it hard not to love Fognini to cover a small 2.5-game spread.
Bet: Fognini -2.5 Games (-130)
Matteo Arnaldi vs. Denis Shapovalov (Scheduled: 8:00 a.m. ET)
Arnaldi got off to a slow start against Daniel Elahi Galan in the first round, but he ended up coming away with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-0, 6-2 victory. The 22-year-old is now 14-3 in his last 17 matches, with all of those coming on clay. He has been one of the most surprising players on tour, and I think he has the game to beat Shapovalov on Wednesday.
Nothing that Arnaldi does will really wow you, but he has a solid all-around game. And I think that type of steady play is going to give Shapovalov trouble. The Canadian is one of the more erratic players on tour, and he’s always going to rack up unforced errors. So, if Arnaldi can just avoid making mistakes, this should be an easy win for him. Shapovalov also happens to be coming off a tough five-set win over Brandon Nakashima, so it’s possible that fatigue factors in later in this match.
Bet: Arnaldi ML (-120)