French Open Betting Bodog.com - Mens 2007 French Open Bets

The French Open has been dominated from men from the Spanish and Portuguese speaking nations of late.

If it were not for Andre Agassi's win at Roland Garros in 1999, all ten of the last French Open champs would be from Spain, Argentina or Brazil. Spaniards have won five of the last ten French Opens.

The reason for this is simple.

Players from those countries grew up playing on clay courts. The tennis world calls them "clay court specialists". You might not hear about a Carlos Moya or Juan Carlos Ferrero challenging at Wimbledon and Flushing Meadows, but they were once perennial contenders in Paris.

RAFAEL NADAL

Rafael Nadal, the two-time defending French Open champion, has won 60+ straight matches on clay. His quickness, endurance and tenacity are ideally suited to the French Open. Nadal runs down balls that no one else can. On clay, where balls are naturally slowed down even more, his advantage is highlighted even more.

Nadal had a showdown in the French final last year with Roger Federer. For the first time in years, Federer's legendary calm was broken in a Grand Slam final. Many heralded Nadal's victory as the long-awaited challenge to Federer's domination of mens tennis. That hasn't materialized, though.

Though Nadal has installed himself as the Men's #2, his clay court success has never quite translated to hard court or grass. He competes on these surfaces better now than he did two years ago, and the 20 year old's serve is improving, but if you are talking about titles, Rafael Nadal is still mainly a clay court specialist.

Which brings up the question: can Nadal put himself in the history books by winning a historic third French Open in a row? He already has the longest-ever streak of clay court wins.

ROGER FEDERER

Meanwhile, Roger Federer has struggled (for him) this spring at ATP events. He made a quick exit in two different tournaments after surprise losses to Guillermo Canas. Of course, until Federer drops matches at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, his domination remains in effect.

It would be just like Federer to pull off a big win at the French, just when he is beginning to be discounted there. His stature is so large in the game of tennis right now, that he is installed as the co-favorite alongside Nadal, even though he has never won the title. For my money, I would love to see a rematch of last year's final. It was refreshing to see Federer play the role of the underdog.

DARK HORSE CANDIDATES

This is the rare tournament where betting the field isn't a terrible idea. In tennis, that's usually akin to throwing away your money. But you never know when some obscure Spaniard or Argentine clay courter comes out of nowhere the win the darned thing.

For those Bodog gamblers who like to bet on American players, don't waste your money. Andy Roddick has no chance to win the French Open. He struggles to stay in matches against Federer and Nadal anyway, and clay is by far his worst surface. James Blake's chances are no better. He isn't even listed.

Anyway, I love the French Open. It's just so different than all the other ATP Grand Slam tournaments on the tennis circuit. Here are the odds.

Rafael Nadal - 5/4
Roger Federer - 5/4
The Field (Any Other Player) - 10/1
Novak Djokovic - 14/1
Guillermo Canas - 16/1
Nicolas Almagro - 28/1
Fernando Gonzalez - 33/1
Richard Gasquet - 33/1
David Nalbandian - 33/1
Andrew Murray - 40/1
Nikolay Davydenko - 40/1
David Ferrer - 50/1
Tommy Robredo - 50/1
Marat Safin - 66/1
Tomas Berdych - 80/1
Andy Roddick - 80/1
Tommy Haas - 80/1
Gaston Gaudio - 100/1
Ivan Ljubicic - 100/1

Daretogamble.com features other tennis entries. Take a look at some of these posts.

2007 Women French Open
2007 Mens Wimbledon
2007 Womens Wimbledon

French Open Betting Bodog.com - Mens 2007 French Open Bets