Who Will Win the Battle of the Giants at Roland Garros?
by Steve Ashfield | by Steve Ashfield
The Fight to be the World Number One
Friday June 9th sees one of the most important tennis matches of the year. Top seeded Carlos Alcaraz takes on third seed Novak Djokovic in the Roland Garros semi-finals. It would have made for a great final but thanks to Daniil Medvedev the pair meet in the last four. The Russian won the Rome Masters and moved up to second in the rankings. That win put Djokovic down to third and the draw saw him in the same half as Alcaraz.
This isn't just a match to determine who will face either Holger Rune or Casper Ruud in the Roland Garros final. If Alcaraz can beat Djokovic then he will end this tournament still ranked number one in the world. However, if Djokovic can beat the Spaniard then he will regain the world number one spot if winning the final.
So much at stake therefore, so who will win this battle of the giants? The pair have only met once before and it was Alcaraz who won that match and it was played on a clay court. The Spaniard has been in amazing form this year with four titles won despite missing the first couple of months of the season.
Three titles have been won on clay and he's been in top form at Roland Garros this year. The last eight saw him beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets with only three games dropped in the first two sets. Alcaraz has only dropped one set so far and he's played 11 sets in which his opponent failed to win three games. if you can't see the match as it happens, don't forget you can access our livescore page.
Back to Number One for Djokovic?
Novak Djokovic is a former champion at Roland Garros and has won two titles this year. Both were down under at the start of 2023 and that included winning the Australian Open. He hasn't won any titles since then though and he's bidding to reach his first clay court final of the year. There have been some surprise defeats for him on clay. If Dusan Lajovic, Lorenzo Musetti and Holger Rune can beat him on clay, then surely Alcaraz can.
The betting odds reflect the fact that Alcaraz is in the better form and he's 1.50 to reach the final. Djokovic can never be ruled out though and his price of 2.61 looks tempting.
Whoever wins this semi-final will face either Casper Ruud or Alexander Zverev. Ruud is bidding to reach a second successive Roland Garros. Zverev meanwhile is in his third straight semi-final in Paris but has never reached the final.
Odds to Win the Men's Singles
- Carlos Alcaraz - 1.66
- Novak Djokovic - 3.10
- Alexander Zverev - 9.00
- Casper Ruud - 10.00
Odds from bet365
A Year of Firsts for Sabalenka?
It's not been an easy time for Aryna Sabalenka but nothing is going wrong during her matches. This year has already seen her win a Grand Slam for the first time with victory in Australia. Now the Belarusian has a good chance of becoming the world number one for the first time in her career. To do so the 25-year-old must match the result that Iga Swiatek has at Roland Garros and they could meet in the final.
Sabalenka is number one in the live rankings and has done well to close the huge gap that Swiatek had earier in the year. The second seed at Roland Garros has won three titles this year and lost in two finals. Only two clay court titles have been won by her and both were in Madrid. Before this tournament she'd never managed to get past the third round at Roland Garros. That's all changed this year and a win over unseeded Karolina Muchova in the last four is fully expected. Sabalenka is yet to drop a set in this tournamnent. The betting odds however strongly have Swiatek as the woman who will win the title with odds of 1.36 with Sabalenka 3.25.
Can Swiatek Stay at the Top of the Rankings?
Iga Swiatek has won two women's singles titles at Roland Garros and this is only the fourth time the Pole has played the tournament. 2023 hasn't been as dominant for her as last year. The Pole has still managed to win two tournaments in Doha and on clay in Stuttgart. Swiatek beat Sabalenka to win the Stuttgart title but then lost to her rival in Madrid.
No sets have been dropped by Swiatek so far in this tournament. The last four sees her take on 14th seeded Beatriz Haddad Maia and another straight sets win is likely. That may well see the Swiatek v Sabalenka showdown and it won't just be for the Roland Garros title but the world number one spot. Who'll win that match if it happens may well be a case of who finds the better form on the day. Remember to keep up to date with all the action on our Livescore page.
Odds to win Women's Singles
- Iga Swiatek - 1.36
- Aryna Sabalenka - 3.25
- Karolina Muchova - 19.00
- Beatriz Haddad Maia - 29.00
Odds from bet365
