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The French Open Tennis Championship gets under way from Roland Garros on Sunday and reigning champion Rafael Nadal once again looks like a good thing. The 20-year-old Spanish sensation has a staggering record on clay, although Roger Federer finally ended his 81-match winning streak on the surface at the Hamburg Masters last Sunday. Nadal is a best priced 4/7 to make it a hat-trick of French Open titles.
Federer recently split from his coach Tony Roche after a very successful two-and-a-half-year partnership, and unusually goes into a tournament as the underdog. Yet, the man is a freak. He became the first man in 27 years to win a grand slam title without loosing a single set when winning the Australian Open. On that kind of form, he could still upset the Spaniard again on his least favourite surface, and for that reason both players are left alone.
If you want a tiny investment, you could do a lot worse than have a few quid on Guillermo Canas. The 29-year-old Argentinean has a cracking record at Roland Garros having been a quarter finalist in 2003 and 2005. He has already beaten Federer twice in the US this year and, providing he is drawn away from Nadal until the final, may be great each-way value at 33/1.
The women’s event seems far more competitive and Justine Henin-Hardenne heads the market in search of her fourth French Open title in five years. Her main danger looks to be Serena Williams who has staged a remarkable comeback this year. At the end of last year, Serena had slipped down to almost 100th in the world, with a string of injury problems. Since then, she bounced back incredibly well to win her eighth grand slam title in Melbourne when unseeded. Even though she has lost all three times the pair have met on clay, Serena still seems the vale call at 4/1 with Bet365.
Sunday also plays host to arguably the world’s most glamorous sporting event – the Monaco Grand Prix. It’s always a great spectacle and once again looks set to be another head-to-head between McLaren and Ferrari. Although Ferrari has won three of the four Grand Prixs this season, McLaren still leads the constructors’ championship, and the young Brit Lewis Hamilton leads the way in the Driver’s Championship.
I think it is worth backing current World Champion Fernando Alonso, at odds of 9/4 (William Hill) before qualifying, to win. He won at Monaco last year and has the massive advantage of experience over his team mate. Monaco is a race often won from pole as it is extremely difficult to overtake and, considering Ferrari does not have a great recent record at Monaco (having not won since 2001), I expect Alonso to be the man to beat.
We’re just over a week away from Derby Day and, as always, Irish maestro Aidan O’Brien holds a pretty strong hand. At the time of writing, he still has around ten possible runners in the race, but expect that to be edited down to four or less on the Thursday.
This week’s trades:
Horse Racing
Derby
1 pt each-way Archipenko 14/1 (William Hill)
Trading strategy – Lay back stake before race
Motor Racing
Supreme Novices Hurdle
4 pts to win Fernando Alonso 9/4 (general)
Trading strategy – Look to lay stake if first or second on starting grid
Results:
19/05//07 +4pts Under 2.5 goals in FA Cup Final
19/05//07 +5pts Draw at Half Time in FA Cup Final
19/05//07 +14pts No Goalscorer in FA Cup Final
Performance – 39 winning bets from 69 recommended bets (since Sports Trader began on 9th November 2006)
Profit – +223pts to advised stakes since start
by: Bill Esdaile