The times when the trio Federer – Nadal – Djokovic necessarily took on almost any competition are gone: one ended his career, the other could not cope with injuries, the third lost his grip and was unable to win his beloved Australian Open. Instead of the old people, a younger generation is growing up, but they have not yet formed tennis players capable of completely dominating. It is all the more interesting to watch new Grand Slam tournaments in order to understand whether Novak is capable of new achievements or whether the youth will push him again, and if the latter, then who exactly?
If you want to support your favorite tennis player with a bet, go to Melbet in Pakistan. And in this article we propose to consider who bookmakers consider the main favorites, and how they assess their chances of triumph.
Carlos Alcaraz – 2.4
21-year-old Alcaraz has recently been considered the main talent of the new generation – apparently, the public consciousness has already established the opinion that a Spaniard must be on the podium. However, Carlos has so far shown a very unstable game – he either achieves impressive heights or disappoints. The instability can be attributed to his youth, but the fact is that even second place in the ranking is not guaranteed to him.
Great expectations from Alcaraz are due to the fact that, in conditions of fierce competition, at his age he managed to take two Grand Slams, and different ones – US Open 2022 and Wimbledon 2023. At the same time, Roland Garros did not submit to the Spaniard, and he has not even played in the final yet – the highest Last year’s semi-final remains an achievement.
The Australian Open this year also traditionally did not go well for Alcaraz – Zverev taught him a lesson in the quarterfinals. But the Spaniard’s motivation should be all the stronger to prove that he is capable of much – especially since he has already been at the top of the rankings and clearly wants to repeat.
Novak Djokovic – 3.25
The last of the Great Trinity is still on tour, and the title of the first racket has not yet been given away. Considering that he will turn 37 years old in France, this is very good. However, bookmakers are already admitting that the Serbian may get injured and withdraw or not show his best performance. A serious failure in a tournament could mean losing your lead – if not permanently, then for a long time.
Novak has so many Grand Slam trophies that it is inappropriate to list them in this article – we will only note that the next one would bring their number to a quarter of a hundred. There is no major where Djokovic has never won, and in France, he will defend the title. It is interesting that the French soil is not very hospitable for the Serb – here, he won “only” three times, that is, less than at any other Grand Slam competition.
The first racket of the world is not considered the main favorite of the upcoming tournament also because the Serb stumbled in his favorite competition – the Australian Open. With ten Australian trophies, Novak was unable to eliminate Sinner in the semi-finals. Can we say that this is already the beginning of the end, as the French courts will show?
Jannik Sinner – 4.5
Tennis stars usually stake their claim to the top at a young age. Sinner is more modest in this regard – the Australian Open 2024 became his first trophy at the Grand Slam level. But this is the most recent tournament of this kind, and in the singles ranking, Yannick has so far managed to fight with Alcaraz for second position with varying degrees of success. It is not a fact that the 22-year-old Italian will ever become the leader of world tennis, but, on the other hand, when, if not now?
It should be noted that the Italian’s successes at the French Open were previously relatively modest: he only reached the quarterfinals once, and that was four years ago. However, Yannick has clearly gotten into shape, and the essence of sports is to dream, not give up, and achieve.
Rafael Nadal – 5.5
Bookmakers continue to keep Nadal on the list of contenders for the title, but the closer the tournament gets, the higher the odds they put on his victory. It’s not surprising that the Spaniard will turn 38 in France, but Rafa, unlike the Serb, can barely cope with injuries and has hardly played lately. The place in the seventh hundred of the ranking speaks for itself.
At the same time, no one argues that Nadal is a legend: 22 Grand Slam titles have not gone away. Of these, 14 were won on French clay, which is why bookmakers believe that if he does manage to play, he will be a serious threat. However, Rafael never made it to the last Roland Garros – guess the reason. The Spaniard also did not play at the Australian Open, so there is no need to judge his current form. If the injury prevents him from playing again, we can assume that this is the end of his career.
Holger Rune – 9.0
The 21-year-old Dane is another potential star of the new generation, but he is not yet up to par with Alcaraz and Sinner. Holger doesn’t have a single Grand Slam title, has never been in the top 3 of the ATP rankings, and is currently hovering around seventh place. However, he is still very young, and his game looks promising.
Rune performs best in France. Here, he reached the quarterfinals twice and was precise in the last draws. The Australian Open, however, somewhat cooled the expectations of his fans—Cazeau’s loss in the second round looked like a sensation. At the same time, if the Dane really sees himself as a top tennis player, it’s time to live up to expectations. Otherwise, Holger risks forever remaining in the conditional “second tier” of good but not outstanding athletes.
Our forecast
The good thing about the upcoming tournament is that it is extremely difficult to give a clear forecast for it. Alcaraz is not showing consistent play, and Djokovic is aging – that is, the two main favorites, despite the odds, do not look very convincing. Nadal may not finish at all, and Runa can’t reach the next level. In this situation, we would take a risk and make an unusual move – we bet on Sinner.
