Andy Murrays tennis betting odds of winning the French Open – also known as Roland Garros – are better than ever following his defeat of world No 1 Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-3 in Sunday’s Rome Masters final. The French Open is the season’s only clay-court Grand Slam – and Murray had already beaten the ‘King of Clay’ Rafael Nadal previously at Madrid, yet another sign of the Scotsman’s steady improvement on the red stuff. Murray’s victory in Rome was his first title in the Italian capital as well as his first win over the Serbian on the clay – and only his third from their last 15 clashes on any surface.
On his 29th birthday, Murrays defeated Djokovic for the 10th time out of 32 encounters to win his third clay-court title, following similar victories in Munich and Madrid. It was a performance that saw Murray seem to be made to play on clay, and Djokovic appear to be made out of clay, as the rainy weather conditions apparently affected the latter but not the former – in fact, the Serb argued with the referee about the lack of a rain stoppage. As people who bet on tennis know, this is a sport in which you can seldom take a rain check.
Fans who bet on tennis may also have noted that Djokovic was exhausted following a taxing three-set war with Kei Nishikori the prior evening. Either way, Djokovic remains the tennis betting odds-on favorite followed by Nadal. The Serb is aiming to with the one title that has eluded him in the past in order to complete the career Grand Slam. Conversely, the Spaniard is looking to round up a decuple of French Open titles. Current champion Stan Wawrinka has won just three matches on clay this year, and Roger Federer is considering skipping the event. Having said all of that, for Murray it seems to be a matter of now or never.
Not only has Murrays recovered the No. 2 spot in the world rankings, but will be seeded second for Roland Garros. It was a case of both Murray arguably over delivering and Federer underperforming in Rome – the Swiss lost in the last 16. Meanwhile, Nadal could be drawn in the same quarter as Djokovic for the French Open after failing to recapture a place in the world’s top four. The Spanish went to Rome aware that he had a chance to take Stan Wawrinka’s place as world number four. However, he fell to Djokovic in the last eight, leaving him in the fifth spot in the rankings. It’s rather difficult to tell how all this shifting around can have a bearing on tennis betting, but its influence can’t be denied either.