After a couple of eventful and dramatic weeks in Paris, just two men remain in the 126th edition of the French Open. Casper Ruud and Rafael Nadal have both navigated their way through tricky draws and will fight it out on Sunday night for the Coupe des Mousquetaires. Find our preview and best bet for the men’s final right here!
2022 Men’s French Open Final Betting Tips
Rafael Nadal vs Casper Ruud
Sunday 11pm AEST
On Saturday night we saw the odds-on favourite in the women’s draw in Iga Swiatek get the job done in straight sets against Coco Gauff, and now on Sunday night we get the opportunity to see the best to ever do it on clay in Rafael Nadal attempt to claim his 14th career French Open title. Standing in his way is another expert clay-courter in Casper Ruud who’s already achieved his best result ever in a Grand Slam tournament.
Rafael Nadal
There were plenty of question marks around Rafael Nadal’s fitness leading into the French Open and that’s the reason why he started at long odds ($5) to by his standards to win the title. However, as is almost always the case, Nadal has answered the call and has reached the final of this event for 13th time where he has an unblemished 13-0 record.
It hasn’t been the easiest run to the final of Nadal’s career, with the 36-year-old being pushed to five sets for just the third time ever at the French Open by the young star in Felix Auger-Aliassime. He was able to get over the line in that contest but then faced the current world #1 and one of his fierce rivals in Novak Djokovic in the following round, who he was able to defeat in four sets. Finally, Nadal overcame the challenge of the in-form Alexander Zverev in the semi-finals, with the German being forced to retire during the second set after suffering a nasty ankle injury.
Road to the Final
R128 dftd. Jordan Thompson 3-0
R64 dftd. Corentin Moutet 3-0
R32 dftd. Botic Van De Zandschulp 3-0
R16 dftd. Felix Auger-Aliassime 3-2
QF dftd. Novak Djokovic 3-1
SF dftd. Alexander Zverev 1-0 (Ret.)
Casper Ruud
23-year-old Casper Ruud has grinded his way into the top 10 in the ATP rankings due to some terrific results in a lot of the smaller tournaments on the Tour, but has finally made his mark at Grand Slam level this fortnight with his run to the final. Prior to this result, Ruud’s best result at this level was a fourth round appearance at the Australian Open in 2021, while his best result at the French Open on his preferred surface was three third round appearances in each of the last three seasons.
It hasn’t been the easiest fortnight for the young Norwegian, with only one of his six matches being won in straight sets, which was against Emil Ruusuvuori in the second round. What you can say however, is that he’s had a really fortunate run in terms of opponents he’s had to face to date. The highest ranked opponent he’s had to overcome is Hubert Hurkacz (#13) in the fourth round and he’s certainly not known for his success on this surface.
Road to the Final
R128 dftd. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 3-1
R64 dftd. Emil Ruusuvuori 3-0
R32 dftd. Lorenzo Sonego 3-2
R16 dftd. Hubert Hurkacz 3-1
QF dftd. Holger Rune 3-1
SF dftd. Marin Cilic 3-1
Prediction
These players have never faced each other in their careers to date, which is a little bit surprising considering both players usually make deep runs in clay court tournaments. However, Nadal has faced plenty of opponents with very similar play styles to that of Ruud, who he’s had no trouble defeating in the past.
Nadal’s fitness will be the deciding factor in the final, but only having to play two sets in the semi-finals is a huge plus for the Spaniard. He will start as the overwhelming favourite to claim his 14th French Open and 22ndGrand Slam title and rightfully so. I expect this to be all one-way traffic and am interested in playing the 3-0 sets or -6.5 games markets.
Rafael Nadal -6.5 Games
$1.95
