This article is part of our Tennis Picks series.
Three more tennis singles medals will be given out Saturday at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, with the women's gold medal match and men's bronze medal match on the docket. The two surprising women's finalists have gotten here the hard way by clearing out the pre-tournament favorites themselves, but only one of these two surging opponents can claim the gold medal for her country while the other will have to settle for silver. Both men's bronze medal contenders can hold their heads high after falling short against elite opponents in the semifinals, but only one will walk away with a consolation prize in the form of a bronze medal.
All Tennis Odds & Lines are taken from DraftKings Sportsbook, but you can sometimes find more favorable odds on some of these matches by checking mobile sportsbooks such as FanDuel Sportsbook, BetMGM, Caesars Sportsbook, or any of the other best sports betting sites. We offer exclusive sign-up bonuses for some of those sportsbooks in states where sports betting has gone live.
All men's and women's singles matches at the Olympics are best of three sets. A mix of players' previous clay court results, recent form and stylistic matchups can help pinpoint intriguing betting opportunities, both among favorites likely to cruise to victory and underdogs ready to pull off upsets.
Olympic Tennis Gold Medal Odds: Zheng vs. Vekic
Qinwen Zheng (-225) vs. Donna Vekic (+175)
Both of these players were in excellent form heading into the Olympics and have carried that success over to this tournament. Zheng has won 10 consecutive clay-court matches, having captured a title in Palermo leading up to this event. Vekic reached the semifinals of Wimbledon, where she pushed Jasmine Paolini to a match tiebreaker before bowing out. En route to the gold medal match, both players have stepped up in tight matches and defeated top opponents. Zheng had to win tiebreaks to stay alive in both her Round of 16 and quarterfinal matches before scoring the biggest win of her career with a 6-2, 7-5 semifinal upset over clay-court queen Iga Swiatek. Vekic has dropped only one set in this tournament, which came in her dramatic 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (8) quarterfinal win over inspired Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk. The 21st-ranked Croatian defeated No. 2 seed Coco Gauff 7-6 (7), 6-2 in the preceding match and unceremoniously ended Anna Karolina Schmiedlova's Cinderella run 6-4, 6-0 in the semifinals.
Zheng's 14-spot edge in the rankings coupled with her momentum from beating Swiatek makes the seventh-ranked Chinese player the clear oddsmakers' favorite, but both players' excellent form suggests this match will likely come down to the wire, so Vekic offers superior betting value as the underdog. The 28-year-old Vekic has historically struggled in finals with a 4-9 career record in championship matches, while the 21-year-old Zheng is 3-3. These two have split two previous matches against each other, both of which came on indoor hard courts.
Olympic Gold Medal Prediction: Zheng def. Vekic 3-6, 6-4, 7-5
Olympic Tennis Bronze Medal Odds: Musetti vs. Auger-Aliassime
Lorenzo Musetti (-150) vs. Felix Auger-Aliassime (+110)
Auger-Aliassime will be looking for his second bronze medal at these Olympics, as he and Gabriela Dabrowski won bronze in the mixed doubles Friday. While doubles is much less taxing, perhaps all the tennis is catching up to the Canadian, as FAA was uncompetitive in his 6-1, 6-1 drubbing at the hands of Carlos Alcaraz in Friday's semifinal. Prior to that match, the 19th-ranked Auger-Aliassime notched consecutive top-10 wins over Daniil Medvedev and Casper Ruud, with the latter being the far more impressive result on this surface. He's having the best clay-court season of his career, with a 17-6 record on the surface in 2024 after having gone 32-31 on clay in his career entering 2024. A bronze medal in singles would be an awesome early birthday present for Auger-Aliassime, who will turn 24 years old this coming Thursday, but he's facing an uphill battle against the 16th-ranked Musetti.
Musetti must be getting tired of facing Novak Djokovic in big matches, as Djokovic has defeated the 22-year-old Italian at this year's French Open, Wimbledon and now the Olympics, with their last two encounters coming in semifinals. That means Musetti has excelled against everyone else lately, and he has proven particularly adept at handling big servers, with wins over Alexander Zverev, Taylor Fritz (twice) and up-and-coming Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard among his most notable results from Wimbledon and this tournament. Musetti's ability to read and block back Auger-Aliassime's first serve could prove to be the difference in this match. Their head-to-head has been a mixed bag, with Auger-Aliassime leading 3-2 overall, Musetti leading 2-1 on clay, and none of their matches coming since 2022.
Olympic Bronze Medal Prediction: Musetti def. Auger-Aliassime 7-5, 6-4
