This article is part of our Tennis Picks series.
The second round of the second Grand Slam of 2022 gets underway Wednesday from the red clay of the French Open. A prominent women's player on the comeback trail will look to notch a signature win to signify her return to the top of the game, while a men's clay-court specialist has to like his chances against a struggling seeded opponent. There are also a couple of enticing bets involving Americans in action Wednesday. All match odds below are taken from DraftKings Sportsbook, but you can sometimes find more favorable odds on some of these matches by checking other mobile sportsbooks such as FanDuel, BetMGM or Caesars.
How players performed over the past six weeks or so should provide a good indication of their clay-court form heading into the lone Grand Slam played on the surface, and now we've also had a chance to see everyone play first-round matches at Roland Garros. The stakes are highest at the majors, and the men play best-of-five set matches rather than the best-of-three seen at other ATP Tour events. Conditions vary from tournament to tournament, and even from day to day, but clay generally plays slower than hard or grass, favoring players with better footwork, touch and ability to work the point rather than big servers. Using this context can help pinpoint intriguing betting opportunities, both among favorites likely to cruise to victory and underdogs ready to pull off upsets. The aforementioned underdogs are highlighted in the Upset Alert section, the Lock It In section covers players who can safely be considered overwhelming favorites, while the Value Bet section recommends enticing options in matchups that are considered closer to toss-ups.
Upset Alert
Karolina Muchova (+200) vs. Maria Sakkari
Muchova's struggled with an abdominal injury through most of the season, but she has been able to play without setbacks for the better part of a month now. Her world No. 81 ranking isn't representative of Muchova's true abilities, as she made the semifinals of the 2021 Australian Open and quarterfinals of Wimbledon in 2021 prior to her injury issues. A win over the third-ranked Sakkari would put the tennis world on alert that Muchova's back. They have split two previous meetings, with Sakkari winning a hard-court encounter back in 2016 and Muchova coming out on top on clay in Madrid last year.
Hugo Dellien (+185) vs. Karen Khachanov
Don't let Dellien's 5-9 record fool you, as he's been a tough out on clay. The 90th-ranked Bolivian has played only on his favorite surface all year, forgoing attempts to get into big hard-court tournaments to focus on racking up ranking points. His record at the ATP Tour level hasn't been very good, but Dellien won a challenger on clay and made the finals of another. The 28-year-old has also shown he can challenge some notable players, beating Holger Rune in qualifying for the Italian Open after pushing Hubert Hurkacz to 6-3 in the third in Madrid. A straight-sets first-round win over former world No. 3 Dominic Thiem should also fill Dellien with confidence, even if Thiem's still far removed from top form as he works his way back from a wrist injury. Conversely, the 25th-ranked Khachanov is quite low on confidence considering he's just 6-8 in his last 14 matches, with only one of those six wins coming against a player ranked in the top 100.
Honorable Mention:
Borna Coric (+290) vs. Grigor Dimitrov
Lock It In
Victoria Azarenka (-330) vs. Andrea Petkovic
Azarenka had to battle back in a hard-fought first-round win over Ana Bogdan, ultimately notching a 6-7 (7), 7-6 (1), 6-2 win. The No. 15 seed should see smoother sailing in a comfortable second-round matchup against a familiar foe. Petkovic is actually two years older than the 32-year-old Azarenka, and Azarenka won their only meeting since 2013 in straight sets last year in Petkovic's home country of Germany. Overall, Azarenka leads their head-to-head 3-1, including 1-0 on clay.
Taylor Fritz (-205) vs. Bernabe Zapata Miralles
Fritz will face a second consecutive qualifier to begin his run at Roland Garros. The first one actually gave the 14th-ranked American significant trouble, as Fritz was pushed to 6-4 in the fifth set by Santiago Fa Rodriguez Taverna. The closeness of that match is likely why the 2022 Indian Wells champion is available at such reasonable odds against an opponent ranked outside the top 130. Zapata Miralles' five-set victory over Taro Daniel in the first round was just his fourth tour-level win against seven losses in 2022. Clay isn't Fritz's favorite surface, but he's shown he can play on it with a 5-2 record this year.
Honorable Mention:
Daniel Evans (-235) vs. Mikael Ymer
Value Bet
Sloane Stephens (+125) vs. Sorana Cirstea
Cirstea came into this tournament on a four-match losing streak before beating 105th-ranked Tatjana Maria in the opening round. Stephens hasn't been much better lately, as her first-round win over Jule Niemeier improved the American's record to just 2-6 since her title in Guadalajara earlier this year. Stephens is capable of reaching a much higher level than Cirstea, though, especially at Grand Slams. Cirstea's lone Grand Slam quarterfinal came at the French Open way back in 2009, while Stephens is the 2017 US Open Champion and 2018 French Open finalist.
Ajla Tomljanovic (-150) vs. Varvara Gracheva
Tomljanovic has played some of her best tennis at Grand Slams recently, so it's not all that surprising that she found her form in the first round and upset No. 5 seed Anett Kontaveit 7-6 (5), 7-5. The world No. 42 will look to replicate that quality performance against the 71st-ranked Gracheva, who was pushed to 7-5 in the third by Tomljanovic's 106th-ranked Australian countrywoman Astra Sharma in the first round. Gracheva beat Tomljanovic in Dubai to improve to 2-0 head-to-head, but the 21-year-old Russian has gone just 3-7 against top-100 opponents since then.
Honorable Mention:
Bianca Andreescu (+125) vs. Belinda Bencic
