Top Tennis Pick
Carlos Alcaraz to Win the Olympic Gold Medal (-145) (2U) at Bookmaker (visit our Bookmaker Review)
The Olympic games are here and it’s an opportunity for the top tennis players in the world to vie for a prize for which they don’t often get an opportunity. Tennis players are usually concerned with Grand Slams but now it is a chance for them to represent their country and try to achieve Olympic gold.
The games are being played in Paris this year and the Grand Slam stadium of Roland Garros will host the tennis portion of the games.
Roland Garros is the home of the French Open. It is a clay surface and notably the slowest clay surface on the tour. Being a slower surface means the ball will bounce higher and will not maintain the same pace that it would on quicker clay or different services. Keep this in mind when handicapping the tournament.
It’s unlike a Grand Slam, however, in the men’s portion of the matches, it will be in the best two-of-three format. The typical for a Grand Slam is best 3 of 5. This will be more of a detriment to players who rely on skill and endurance, such as Novak Djokovic, who uses their endurance to wear down opponents and excel in the best-of-5 format.
The Grand Slam tournaments have different tiebreak rules, but in the Olympic format, the tiebreaker will be the first to seven points traditional tiebreak format.
Let’s dive into the odds for our favorite tennis players at the top sportsbooks as we prepare to bet on the Olympics!
Paris Summer Olympics 2024
Friday, July 26, 2024 – Sunday, August 11, 2024
Men’s Side
With Jannik Sinner withdrawing from the tournament, it feels like this is now becoming a two-horse race between Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic.
Unfortunately for Djokovic and his Serbian fans, the all-time great Djokovic has definitely seen his play decline in recent years. Djokovic was unable to keep up with Alcaraz in the last two Grand Slam finals in which they met. That was the proverbial passing of the torch as Alcaraz is clearly the favorite here. I believe he represents the best bet to win the format although the pick is chalky. One thing about tennis is that there are no fluke fumbles or bad line calls that can really change the game. The best player more often than not wins, and currently, Carlos Alcaraz is the best player in the world. Alcaraz is the rightful favorite considering he will not have Jannik Sinner in the draw to challenge him.
Rafael Nadal will make one of the final appearances in his career here and has always done well at Roland Garros. He can make an interesting long-shot wager. However, I believe that Nadal is too advanced in age to properly test the younger Alcaraz.
A long shot that is worth looking into would be Stefanos Tsitsipas. His game plays well on the clay where his one-handed backhand is less of a detriment with more time to get to the ball. If anyone is going to rise up and pull a miraculous upset, I would look for Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Tennis Pick: Carlos Alcaraz to Win the Olympic Gold Medal (-145) (2U) at Bookmaker
Tennis Pick: Stefanos Tsitsipas to Win the Olympic Gold Medal (+2250) (.25U) at Bookmaker
Women’s Side
Once again, this bracket is looking chalky as Iga Swiatek is the best player in the world on clay.
Iga won the most recent French Open tournament easily, even breezing through the final. Betting on Iga is like betting on a prime Rafael Nadal. She is by far the best player in the world on clay and there was no one who should come close to challenging her. Betting on Iga Swiatek on clay is as close as you can get to a lock in the world of sports betting.
A fun long shot to look at here is Barbora Krejcikova. Krejcikova won the French Open in 2021 and most recently won Wimbledon. If anyone is going to stand up to the test and pull a shocking upset of Iga Swiatek, it is Krejcikova. Barbora Krejcikova is the woman most likely to score the upset and shock the world.
Tennis is a fun sport in the Olympics that gives an opportunity for the greatest players of the world to represent their countries and not just themselves. It’s going to be a great tournament with many ups and downs along the way, although I believe that the tournament winners are fairly easy to predict. Although it seems chalky, the best bet is to go with the dominant clay players.
Tennis Pick: Iga Swiatek to Win the Olympic Gold Medal (-230) (2U) at Bookmaker
Tennis Pick: Barbora Krejcikova to Win the Olympic Gold Medal (+4000) (.25U) at Bookmaker
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.
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