This article is part of our Tennis Picks series.
The French Open quarterfinals begin Tuesday with a pair of women's singles and a pair of men's singles matches. The top half of the men's draw features the three prohibitive title favorites, and Tuesday's action will include the latest installment of arguably the greatest rivalry in the sport's history. It has been a terrific tournament for talented teenagers, and some of the game's brightest young stars in both men's and women's tennis will take the court Tuesday. 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 throughout the clay-court season is important, but those results are overshadowed at this point by their play through four rounds 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
Alexander Zverev (+310) vs. Carlos Alcaraz
Zverev's capable of beating anybody when he's on his game, but he has struggled with the mental aspect of the game on the biggest stages. As a result, the world No. 3 is still searching for his first Grand Slam title to go with his Olympic gold medal, pair of ATP Finals triumphs and five Masters 1000 titles. The pressure shouldn't be as much of an issue for Zverev here as the clear underdog, and he certainly has enough game to successfully play spoiler against Alcaraz, who has already faced a match point in this tournament. Alcaraz beat Zverev in the Madrid final earlier this year, but Zverev won each of their previous two meetings.
Honorable Mention:
Sloane Stephens (+165) vs. Coco Gauff
Lock It In
Leylah Fernandez (-200) vs. Martina Trevisan
Fernandez took a while to regain form after the disappointment of losing the 2021 US Open final to fellow teenager Emma Raducanu, but the 19-year-old Canadian's enjoying another deep run just two Grand Slams later. Teens have reigned supreme at this tournament, and Fernandez's run has included a pair of high-quality wins over seeded opponents Belinda Bencic and Amanda Anisimova. Trevisan's on a nine-match winning streak, but the slumping Garbine Muguruza is the only top-40 opponent the 59th-ranked Italian has beaten in that stretch. The 18th-ranked Fernandez is a step up in competition, and she's shown an elite mix of skill and clutchness in this tournament, much like she did at Flushing Meadows last fall.
Value Bet
Rafael Nadal (+190) vs. Novak Djokovic
Djokovic is rightfully favored in the most highly anticipated match of the tournament, but it's hard not to like the value Nadal brings into their 59th career clash (30-28 Djokovic). Despite dropping their most recent meeting at last year's French Open, Nadal leads their clay-court head-to-head 19-8, and he's aiming for his 14th Roland Garros title. Djokovic has had an easier route to the quarterfinals while Felix Auger-Aliassime took Nadal to five sets in the Round of 16, but there's something to be said for getting through a challenging match against a locked-in opponent like that. There has been no sign of Nadal's chronic foot injury flaring up here, and the Spaniard's 109-3 career record at the French Open speaks for itself.
