THE countdown to the second Grand Slam tournament of the tennis season is well and truly on, with the French Open getting under way on May 25.
The clay courts of Roland Garros provide the latest shot at glory for the stars of the ATP and WTA tours, this event being the domain of long rallies and court craft. The slow surface helps blunt the power players and big servers – remember greats such as Boris Becker never even made the final in Paris.
The tournament is much-anticipated by tennis fans and punters alike – we’ll be checking out the latest French Open odds, plus the best bets, so read on!
â 2025 French Open best bets
- Carlos Alcaraz to win the men’s singles – 11/8 at bet365
- Alex Zverev to win the men’s singles – 16/1 at SBK
- Francisco Cerundoldo each way in the men’s singles – 75/1 at BetMGM
- Aryna Sabalena to win the women’s singles – 5/2 at Spreadex
- Jasmine Paolini each way in the women’s singles – 35/1 at SBK
- Elina Svitolina each way in the women’s singles – 45/1 at SBK
2025 French Open odds
Let’s take a look at the main contenders for the French Open singles titles, according to the .
2025 men’s singles French Open winner odds
- Carlos Alcaraz – 11/8 (bet365)
- Jannik Sinner – 6/4 (talkSPORT BET)
- Novak Djokovic – 15/1 (SBK)
- Alex Zverev – 16/1 (SBK)
- Jack Draper – 22/1 (BetMGM)
- Casper Ruud – 26/1 (SBK)
- Lorenzo Musetti – 35/1 (SBK)
- Holger Rune – 74/1 (SBK)
- Joao Fonseca – 80/1 (BetMGM)
- Stefanos Tsitsipas – 94/1 (SBK)
2025 women’s singles French Open winner odds
- Iga Swiatek – 11/4 (SBK)
- Aryna Sabalenka – 5/2 (talkSPORT BET)
- Coco Gauff – 7/1 (SBK)
- Mirra Andreeva – 8/1 (Betfred)
- Jasmine Paolini – 16/1 (Tote)
- Qinwen Zheng – 19/1 (SBK)
- Elina Svitolina – 33/1 (BetMGM)
- Jelena Ostapenko – 41/1 (SBK)
- Madison Keys – 59/1 (SBK)
- Elena Rybakina – 41/1 (SBK)
Odds are subject to change. All odds correct as of May 20.
2025 French Open betting tips for men’s singles
Time to nail our colours to the mast. The major warm-up events have been completed, so who looks primed to challenge for the famous Coupe des Mousquetaires?
Carlos Alcaraz
The reigning champion established himself as the man to beat again this year with victory over main rival Jannik Sinner in the Rome Masters final. Also won in Monte Carlo last month and is now 15-1 on clay this season, his only loss coming against Holger Rune in the Barcelona final when he suffered an injury. The favourite is worth backing at 11/8 with bet365.
➡ï¸ Back Carlos Alcaraz to win the tournament at 11/8 with bet365
Alex Zverev
Loves Roland Garros, where he’s made the semis in each of the last four years. Last season, he went one further, pushing Alcaraz to a deciding set in the final. Probably hasn’t sparkled as much as he’d have liked in the warm-up events, but did win in Munich and should contend at 9/1 (Betfred).
➡ï¸ Bet on Alex Zverev to lift the trophy at 9/1 with Betfred
Francisco Cerundolo
No one has won more matches on clay so far this season than the Argentine. Made the semis in Munich and Madrid, while it took Sinner and Alcaraz to stop him in Rome and Monte Carlo, respectively. Won’t be seeded highly, so could provide a tough early test for someone in the draw. Has potential at a decent price – Spreadex go 28/1.
➡ï¸ Tip Francisco Cerundolo to win the French Open at 28/1 with Spreadex
2025 French Open betting tips for women’s singles
Iga Swiatek has dominated this tournament in recent times but she’s out of sorts coming into the 2025 edition. Who could take advantage?
Aryna Sabalenka
Sabalenka has long been Swiatek’s main rival on the WTA Tour, and while she’s probably not been at the peak of her powers in recent weeks, she’s certainly been racking up claycourt wins. She’s gone 11-2 across Stuttgart (runner-up), Madrid (won) and Rome (QF). Missed match points in the 2023 semis in Paris and was struck down by illness in last year’s quarter-finals. Holds strong claims at 9/4 (Tote).
➡ï¸ Bet on Aryna Sabalenka to lift the trophy at 9/4 with Tote
Jasmine Paolini
The 2024 runner-up is back in flying form, having just won the warm-up event in Rome, where she beat Coco Gauff and former French Open queen Jelena Ostapenko. A great exponent of claycourt tennis – she doesn’t have huge weapons in her game but does possess great court craft and tactical nous. Worth siding with a 15/1 at BetMGM.
➡ï¸ Tip Jasmine Paolini to win at 15/1 with BetMGM
Elina Svitolina
Has gone 14-2 since hitting the European clay last month, a run which includes winning the WTA title in Rouen and making the Madrid semis. The quality of her victories admittedly isn’t as strong as it might be, but Svitolina has long been a player who delivers at the Grand Slam,s and she will arrive in Paris, where she is a four-time quarter-finalist, with confidence high. Back her at 28/1 with SBK.
➡ï¸ Bet on Elina Svitolina to win the Roland Garros at 28/1 with SBK
🤔 How to bet on Roland Garros
While many traditional betting shops remain on the high street, the majority of betting is now done online.
Online bookmakers will be offering all sorts of markets on the forthcoming French Open (more on those below), while there will enhanced odds and new-customer offers aplenty to attract punters.
For example, Betfred are currently offering a ‘bet £10, get £50’ sign-up offer to new, UK-based customers.
All you need to do is register with them, make a deposit via debit card and then stake £10 at odds of evens or greater on any sports market within seven days.
Within 10 hours of the bet being settled, you will get three £10 sports and two £10 acca free bets.
Opening an account is easy to do:
- Open the website in question, in this case Betfred.com.
- Click on the ‘join’ button.
- Fill out your details.
- When prompted (or by clicking the ‘deposit’ button), make a deposit using your debit card.
- Now you should be ready to place your first £10 bet!
🎾 Popular bets and betting markets for the French Open
A whole host of markets will be available with the various bookmakers for the French Open, although obviously some firms will offer more than others. Let’s take a look at some of the most popular...
Outright betting – Simple. You bet on which player is going to win the title. A good way of having an interest in the tournament as a whole.
Match betting – Again, nothing complicated here. You are betting on which player will win the match – there are only two options in this market.
Set betting – This is a bet on what the score of the match will be in sets. For example, Novak Djokovic to win 3-1. With French Open matches taking place in the best-of-five format there are more options (six in total) here so larger odds.
Game handicap – A popular way of ‘levelling up’ a match-betting market, particularly when there’s a heavy favourite. In the game-handicap market, the underdog is given a head start of a certain number of games. Another way of looking at it is that the favourite concedes the head start. You bet on whether they will overcome that handicap of not. For example, Carlos Alcaraz is a hot favourite to win his match and he’s given 7.5-game handicap (you will see this written as -7.5 with the underdog having +7.5 against his name).
At the conclusion of the contest, the total number of games each player has won is added up and then the handicap applied. In this example, Alcaraz wins 6-3 6-3 6-3 so in terms of games, he is victorious 18-9. Take off the 7.5 games and the ‘score’ becomes 10.5-9, so Alcaraz has covered the handicap. There is usually a set-handicap market which works in a similar way but instead adding up the number of sets won, as opposed to the number of games.
Total games – The bookmaker offers a line based on the total number of games a match will contain – for example, 37.5 – and you decide whether there will be more games than that or fewer. If you believe there will be more games, then you back the ‘over’ option. The ‘under’ option is for those expecting fewer than 37.5 games. Again, total sets markets are also available, while some firms will offer markets on the total games in a specific set too.
Aces/Double faults – Tennis also offers up certain props bets where you focus in on the details of a match, in this case, the serve. Aces and double fault markets are often available, particularly in big matches. You can back which player will serve the most, how many there will be in a match or how many a certain player will serve. Over/under lines are common here.
Betting guide for the French Open
The French Open is unique among the four Grand Slam tournaments in that it is the only one to be played on clay. So, what factors do you therefore need to consider before placing your bets?
Surface – The clay provides slow conditions and produces longer rallies than other surfaces. Power is blunted somewhat and it is harder to hit clean winners. Unsurprisingly, this suits some players but not others. For example, a big server used to getting lots of cheap points will find things tougher on clay – Pete Sampras famously never reached the French Open final. In addition, it tends to help if you have been brought up on the surface. It’s a generalisation, but the South Americans tend to love the clay, as do the southern Europeans, such as the Spanish and Italians, and this is the reason.
Form – As with any sport, it’s important to consider recent form. Hopefully you’ve been following the recent warm-up tournaments such as those in Monte Carlo, Stuttgart, Madrid and Rome. But, even if you haven’t, it will be worth studying the results to see who has been playing well. Look into the statistical details too – stats such as first serve points won, first serves made are all readily available on various websites and apps.
Tournament history – In other words, horses for courses. Some players perform well at certain tournaments and it’s worth knowing which ones by studying historical performances. Thinking about the French Open, Alex Zverev is a player who has made at the least the semi-finals in each of the last four years. That is a strong tournament record, albeit not as strong as the now-retired Rafael Nadal’s was – he won 14 times at Roland Garros! There can be various reasons for players performing well at certain venues – local conditions, good memories from the past. Maybe they have crowd support as a home player.
Draw – This isn’t golf. You don’t actually have to beat everyone in the field to win the tournament. At the French Open, the champion will win seven matches. Avoiding form players and getting a ‘soft’ draw can help a lot. In contrast, a tough draw which potentially throws up a lot of hard matches can be fatal to your chances, especially in Paris where the long, strength-sapping rallies can drain energy. The title contenders will want comfortable straight-sets wins in the first week, not epic five-set battles. So, when it comes to outright betting, study the draw when it is published on Thursday (May 22) – you may well find a certain half or quarter looks stacked with talent or, alternatively, lacking it.
How to watch the 2025 French Open
If you are off to Paris to watch the action, enjoy! If not, be aware that there’s a new home for TV coverage of the tournament in the UK following the discontinuation of the Eurosport brand.
- Location:Roland Garros, Paris, France
- Date and time:Sunday May 25 to Sunday June 8 (Play starts at 1000 BST on most days with the singles finals beginning at 1400 BST)
- How to watch:TNT Sports has live TV coverage in the UK, with its discovery+ service offering online streaming.
Q&A about the 2025 French Open
1. Who are the top favourites for the 2025 French Open
In the men’s singles, defending champion Carlos Alcaraz and world number one Jannik Sinner are clear favourites ahead of the chasing pack.
In the women’s event, four-time Roland Garros winner Iga Swiatek and world number one Aryna Sabalenka are battling for favouritism, as they have been at most major tournaments over the past few years. However, neither has been at their best level in the lead-up events.
2. How much money does the winner of the French Open get?
Each singles champion will claim prize money of 2.55 million euros (£2.15m) – up from 2.4m in 2024. The total prize pot is 56.35 million euros (£47.48m), an increase of 5.2% year on year.
3. Who won the French Open last year?
, defeating Alex Zverev in a thrilling five-set final.
The reigning , who won the title for the third time in a row in 2024. It was her fourth French Open title in total.
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