talkSPORT betting tips – Best tennis bets and advice for French Open Thursday

The second-round of the French Open resumes on Thursday, with defending men’s champion Novak Djokovic and women’s world number two Aryna Sabalenka the star turns.

Rain wreaked havoc on Wednesday, so contests were held over and that may have caused some disruption to the day’s schedule.

However, to embrace the action from Roland Garros, we have picked out a four-fold which suggests a tough time for a couple of the leading stars.

French Open Tennis Tips

• Roberto Carballes Baena +9.5 games on handicap v Novak Djokovic @ 3/4 
• Dusan Lajovic +5.5 games on handicap v Taylor @ 20/21
• Yulia Putintseva to beat Paula Badosa @ 6/5
• Irina Begu to beat Linda Noskova @ 13/10
• Accumulator pays 15/1 if successful.

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Djokovic may not have things all his own way

It would be hasty to suggest that Novak Djokovic could suffer a second-round defeat at the hands of Roberto Carballes Baena, but the Spaniard excels on the clay and a handicap start of +9.5 games seriously underestimates him.

Defending champion Djokovic should advance relatively comfortably but even a straight-set success would make it difficult for him to successfully cover the hefty handicap on offer.

In the opening round, although trumphing in 3-0, Pierre-Hugues Herbert put up a bold fight and the 6-4 7-6 6-4 margin of victory shows it was far from a dominant display from Djokovic.

Carballes Baena is a classier clay operator than Herbert and, having made a clay-court final in Marrakech as recently as last month, don’t expect him to be disgraced.

Fritz has to prove his clay-court credentials

Men’s world number 12 Taylor Fritz has not gone past round three of the French Open in seven main-draw appearances and, although his slow-court game is improving, he looks a short price against seasoned Serb Dusan Lajovic.

Fritz had to come from a set behind to get the better of first-round opponent Federico Coria and making a similarly slow start against Lajovic, who excels on this slower terrain and won their only previous clay-court encounter, could be fatal.

The 33-year-old has lifted two clay-court titles, as well as finishing runner-up in the Monte-Carlo Masters in 2019, and a semi-final run on the clay of Barcelona last month shows he is performing close to that level.

Keep the faith with in-form Putintseva 

Yulia Putintseva has twice made the French Open quarter-final and the manner of her emphatic 6-1 6-2 first-round victory over former Roland Garros runner-up Sloane Stephens suggests she could be capable of another deep run.

The Kazakhstan performer took less than an hour to silence Stephens and, having lost only three of her last 12 matches on clay, her confidence levels should be through the roof.

This is no easy task against Badosa, a one-time world number two who has also reached the last eight at Roland Garros.

However, it would be too soon to suggest the Spaniard is right back to her best after an injury-ravaged spell and, with six of her last matches having gone to a deciding set, at some point things may start to go against her.

Inexperienced Noskova could be found wanting

Linda Noskova looks a potential star of the future but the Czech teenager still has a bit to prove on clay and may be a vulnerable favourite against the experienced Irina-Camelia Begu.

Noskova reached the quarter-final of the Australian Open earlier in the season, defeating world number one Swiatek in the third round, but this slower surface poses different problems for her.

The 19-year-old has lost four of her last seven clay-court matches, whereas Bega relishes these conditions with seven of her last nine matches resulting in victory. 

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Odds correct at time of writing

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