In women’s tennis, the era of Iga Swiatek’s total dominance seems to be over – the Polish player who so sensationally burst to the top a couple of years ago is still the world number one but can no longer be considered the invincible machine she was in 2022. It is all the more interesting to follow the Grand Slam tournaments, where all the best tennis players in the world will potentially face her.
The main clay tournament of the season will take place at the end of May – beginning of June, which means that dedicated tennis fans should put aside any other business and devote their time only to it. Go to melbet ng app to make the game even more interesting thanks to sports betting, and we will look at which tennis player will compete for the title and back it up with current odds.
Iga Swiatek – 2.0
The young Polish woman became a real sensation in her time – she did not recognize authorities at all and looked so irresistible that she took first place in the world rankings unconditionally. Since then, her impeccability has been somewhat shaken, and she even briefly conceded the leadership position to Arina. However, it is naive to say that Iga’s best times are over – after all, she is still only 22 years old!
Bookmakers do not think that Swiatek has lost her form that much and see her as the main favorite of the future tournament. They are not even embarrassed by Iga’s extremely inexpressive performance in Australia, where the world number one dropped out in the third round, losing to the not-so-star Czech Noskova. But the Polish woman won Roland Garros three times during her short career and, therefore, is considered super successful, primarily on clay.
In fact, it is not so much her rivals who can hinder Iga’s victory, but her own health, but Swiatek is not complaining about it yet.
Arina Sabalenka – 5.5
The 26-year-old “neutral” Belarusian has only recently blossomed, achieving much greater success than in her youth. The last two tournaments in Australia were won by Arina, and these are her only Grand Slam titles, although now she is used to reaching the last stages of all the tournaments in which she participates. Such agility allowed the girl to briefly become the first racket of the world last fall, pushing aside the phenomenal Iga.
The Belarusian’s main problem at the tournament in France is her morale. Anyone who follows tennis news knows that in March, during a tournament in Miami, her boyfriend unexpectedly died. The athlete did not withdraw from the game then, but her game did not go any further. The loss of a loved one can affect the chances for the title, preventing even the semi-finals of Roland Garros, which was previously the ceiling for Sabalenok. On the other hand, who knows – it is possible that mental pain will become a new motivation for her.
Coco Gauff – 10.0
The youngest of all the main contenders for the title is 20-year-old Cori Gauff. On the one hand, she is still considered very promising and promising; on the other, Iga, at her age, was already teaching the strongest competitors how to play tennis. Coco has only one Grand Slam title so far, won at last year’s US Open, but she should be even hungrier for new victories. Especially since Arina clearly shows that talent can reveal itself to its fullest even at a more mature age.
Unlike Arina, Coco knows what it’s like to play in the Roland Garros final: in 2022, the girl, who had barely reached adulthood, reached the decisive match, where she met the not very older Iga Swiatek. The Polish woman then succeeded, but the American woman was left with an open gestalt, which she will definitely try to close. This year’s Australian Open showed that Gauff is not slowing down – there she reached the semi-finals and lost only to Sabalenka. Corey probably has the idea in his head that the semi-final match is the minimum that must be achieved at any cost, and then we’ll see.
Elena Rybakina – 13.0
The Russian, who plays under the flag of Kazakhstan, is right now the fourth racket in the world, and is number four on the list of the main contenders for the French title. At the same time, the odds for her victory clearly show that the bookmakers themselves do not really believe in her. Perhaps they shouldn’t have written off the winner of Wimbledon 2022 so easily – this is also a Grand Slam, and the trophy was won not so long ago.
True, the 24-year-old Kazakh woman does not demonstrate resounding success at Roland Garros. Her best achievement was the quarterfinals, and even this was achieved only once, in 2021. Pessimism towards her is emphasized by the fact that Elena definitely cannot be satisfied with her performance in Australia – The major ended for her in the second round, and the offender was the relatively modest Blinkova.
Who Else?
A tennis tournament is always capable of bringing a sensation in the form of a victory for a tennis player who was not considered a favorite: a striking example of this is Emma Raducanu, who once won the US Open.
A banal phrase says that in a sports match, any of the opponents can always win, and we will simply present the odds for the triumph of contenders from the “second echelon” – if they do not win the title, they are obliged to “make some noise”:
- Mirra Andreeva – 17.0;
- Simona Halep – 19.0;
- Ons Jabeur – 21.0;
- Naomi Osaka – 21.0;
- Karolina Muchova – 26.0.
As you can see, there are at least two very big names on this list, so don’t think that the result of the tournament is known in advance.
Conclusions
Iga is Iga, and it’s not for nothing that bookmakers value its chances so highly. For most of the season, she has been resting on her laurels, taking advantage of the huge number of rating points she has previously gained, so she must approach Roland Garros fresh and well-prepared. But in tennis, too much depends on the moral and physical state, so we certainly will not condemn those who see someone else as the winner.
