APTOPIX Spain Tennis Madrid Open

This year’s Roland Garros promises to be wildly entertaining. Iga Swiatek, who has won this tournament in four of the last five years, is struggling like never before. The Pole hasn’t won a tournament since the 2024 season, and her 2025 European clay-court swing has been rather disappointing. While it once felt inevitable that she’d add another major to her trophy collection here, there’s suddenly hope for the rest of the WTA Tour. Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff and Mirra Andreeva are some of the players that will view this as a winnable tournament now, and there’s a few other players that have a shot.

That uncertainty should make for a better viewing experience, and possibly a better betting experience. That said, let’s get into things to keep an eye on when betting this event.

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Three-Peat: Iga Swiatek wins yet another Roland Garros

Recent Roland Garros Winners

  • 2020: Iga Swiatek
  • 2021: Barbora Krejcikova
  • 2022: Iga Swiatek
  • 2023: Iga Swiatek
  • 2024: Iga Swiatek

Roland Garros Betting Odds

  • Aryna Sabalenka (+275)
  • Iga Swiatek (+350)
  • Coco Gauff (+500)
  • Mirra Andreeva (+600)
  • Jasmine Paolini (12-1)
  • Qinwen Zheng (18-1)
  • Elena Rybakina (28-1)
  • Elina Svitolina (33-1)
  • Jelena Ostapenko (33-1)
  • Madison Keys (40-1)

(For the rest of the odds, head over to BetMGM)

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The courts at Roland Garros grip the ball, produce high bounces and give players a better chance of getting into rallies.

The courts at Roland Garros grip the ball, produce high bounces and give players a better chance of getting into rallies.

Roland Garros Conditions

The conditions in Paris are similar to those in Rome. Tennis Abstract had a Surface Speed of 0.66 for Roland Garros last year, and this year’s Internazionali BNL d’Italia had a Surface Speed of 0.63. That number means that players hit 34% fewer aces at last year’s French Open than they did in a tour-average event.

That doesn’t mean that serving isn’t important in Paris—it’s important everywhere. But these courts grip the ball, produce high bounces and give players a better chance of getting into rallies. Also, when it comes to baseline exchanges, the higher bounces and slower speeds favor point construction and an ability to grind out longer rallies.

It’s also very important to be able to hit a lively ball, whether that’s with your serve or your baseline shots. Players that can get a good jump or kick with their shots are at a big advantage in Paris. Hitting lower, flatter shots isn’t as effective.

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Roland Garros Players To Watch

Jasmine Paolini (12-1): Paolini is coming off the biggest title of her career, at home in Rome. She beat some strong players along the way, including Ons Jabeur, Jelena Ostapenko, Diana Shnaider, Peyton Stearns and Coco Gauff. The Italian now enters Roland Garros in as good of form as anyone, and she’s going to feel great about her chances of winning in similar conditions in Paris. Paolini’s draw is also pretty reasonable, even if she's in a loaded second quarter that features Swiatek. However, most of the heavy-hitters in this quarter are in the bottom half. Paolini is on top. Paolini should be able to work her way deep in this tournament, as long as she doesn’t suffer some sort of Rome hangover. The question is: Can Paolini beat Swiatek and Sabalenka to book a spot in the final? She might have to.

Karolina Muchova (25-1): Is Muchova healthy? If so, she has the ability to spoil the party for somebody like Mirra Andreeva. Muchova was the runner-up at Roland Garros in 2023, and she went blow for blow with the best version of Swiatek in that final. When it comes to clay-court prowess, not many players can match her. She’s solid as a server, she’s a dangerous returner, and her variety is remarkable. Muchova is one of the best players in the world when it comes to mixing up the type of shots she hits, and she’s also great at going to the net and showcasing her world-class hands. We just haven’t see Muchova since the Miami Open, making it hard to know where her game is right now. But we’ll learn a lot in her opening-round match against Alycia Parks, and it might be worth throwing some futures on her if she turns in a good performance.

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Muchova was the latest in a line of Czech women to reach her maiden major final at Roland Garros.

Muchova was the latest in a line of Czech women to reach her maiden major final at Roland Garros.

Beatriz Haddad Maia (150-1): Haddad Maia has had a forgettable year, going 6-14 with a hold percentage of 59.4% and a break percentage of 25.3%. Last year, Haddad Maia was 38-27 with a hold percentage of 69.5% and a break percentage of 34.8%. But you know what? While some players sit out the week before a major, others head to tournaments and work on their games. Haddad Maia chose to play in Strasbourg, where she picked up some wins over Top 25 players Clara Tauson and Emma Navarro. And if Haddad Maia is starting to find her confidence, a deep run at Roland Garros is absolutely in the cards. She has a tough opening-round matchup with the talented Hailey Baptiste, but if she makes it through that match, I don’t think a run to the quarterfinals can be ruled out.

Roland Garros Pick To Win

Coco Gauff (+500): I can’t say I’m thrilled about the way Gauff is serving right now. Her double faults are starting to creep back up, and her unforced errors were also a problem in Rome last week. But Gauff also went all the way to the finals in both Madrid and Rome, and she pounded Swiatek and Andreeva (twice) at those events. She also earned a hard-fought win over an in-form Zheng in the Rome semifinals.

Gauff is so good as both a returner and a baseliner that even her C+ or B- game is good enough to work her deep into a tournament. She also happens to have an awesome draw in Paris, where I’m not even sure she’ll be tested until the quarterfinals. Also, according to seeding, the best player she can face in the semis is Andreeva, who she clearly has a mental edge against.

Gauff doesn’t have a better clay-court game than either Swiatek or Sabalenka, but based on the draw, she’s the most likely of the three to be in the final. That makes her worth a play on the futures market. Let's just hope for two good weeks from that forehand wing.