The French Open is the second of the four tennis Majors (after the Australian Open) and it has been won by Rafael Nadal in nine of the last 10 years, including in each of the last five. But the man from Majorca will arrive at Roland Garros having not won a European clay court trophy, the first time this has happened since he first won the French Open back in 2005. So is Nadal's dominance of the event coming to an end? Read on as we answer this question and give our outright winner predictions and betting tips for the French Open, along with the latest live betting odds.
To be fair to Nadal, his relatively poor form this season is almost certainly a consequence of last season's wrist injury and appendectomy, but - after defeat to Swiss player Stan Wawrinka in the quarter-final of the Italian Open - it looks very likely that the Spaniard will miss out on a top four seeding, making it an extremely tough task to defend his French Open crown. Despite this, Nadal is still the second favourite at best betting odds of 3/1 with BetVictor to win his 10th French Open. Some people may see this as top value given his dominance, but for us it is not long enough given his recent defeats.
World number one Novak Djokovic has never won the French Open and he will be more determined than ever to put that right in 2015 given the waning of Nadal's power and the rise of some of the chasing pack. Priced at betting odds of just 4/5 with William Hill, Djokovic is the strong favourite for success and his dominance this year has been astounding. He has won four ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events, most recently in Rome where he beat Roger Federer. At the time of writing he has a 22-match winning streak and he has won 14 and lost just one against top 10 opponents in 2015. In short, he is a worthy favourite.
If there is one man who might just get the better of the world number one, it is Andy Murray - who is available to back at nice betting odds of 8/1 with Paddy Power and others. We predict that Murray will do well in Paris having beaten Nadal for the first time on clay, in the final of the Madrid Open. It was a significant victory for Murray - who has always struggled to master the surface - and despite withdrawing from the Italian Open due to fatigue we fancy he'll be in great shape to have a go at winning at Roland Garros. Whether he can get the better of Djokovic is open to question, but at 8/1 he is worth a punt and he is our main betting tip here.
Others who are worthy of consideration are Federer at 20/1 with Sportingbet and Japan's ever-improving Kei Nishikori at odds of 16/1 with Bet365. Overall though, the safe money has to be on Djokovic, with Murray the most likely challenger in our eyes in what could be the most exciting French Open in years.