French Open Day 2 best bets: Millman, Monteiro make for strong plays

Main-draw action at the 2021 French Open resumes on Monday. The other three Grand Slams begin on a Monday and the first round is spread across only two days, but at Roland Garros the opening round requires three days to be completed (it began on Sunday). Although that makes for fewer matches per day before the men’s and women’s fields are cut to 64 players apiece, it also means the overall tournament lasts 15 days instead of 14. More days mean more betting opportunities. Everybody wins!… At least let’s hope everybody wins.

Throughout the two weeks in Paris, Pickswise will be offering plenty of content to help you become a winner at tennis betting.

Let’s continue by taking a look at some of the best bets for Monday at Roland Garros, and be sure to also check out our best futures bets for the fortnight.

Filip Krajinovic -4 games over Maximilian Marterer (-107)

Marterer has not won a match on the main tour since last September. He hasn’t won a main-draw match at a Grand Slam since the 2019 Australian Open. The German has been playing almost exclusively at the Challenger level (the proverbial minor leagues of men’s tennis) in 2021, and even there he has been struggling. Krajinovic may not be on fire right now, but he is at least playing decent enough tennis these days. The 41st-ranked Serb won two matches in both Monte-Carlo and Belgrade earlier this spring to pick up some confidence on clay. Krajinovic reached the third round at Roland Garros in 2019 and then tested current world No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas in four extremely competitive sets.

Thiago Monteiro -1 game over Francisco Cerundolo (-105)

Monteiro won their only previous meeting in straight sets on clay last year. At a Grand Slam, more of the same should continue. After all, Cerundolo has never appeared in the main draw of a major. The 22-year-old Argentine shouldn’t be in this main draw, either, but he got a lucky-loser spot after falling in the final round of qualifying. Monteiro qualified for the French Open main draw in 2019 and made a run to the third round last fall. The left-hander from Brazil has far more experience and is quite simply a much more talented player at this point in their respective careers.

John Millman +3 games over Gianluca Mager (-110)

Millman on the money line is a strong play, and getting three games is even better. I would probably pick Millman in any situation on any surface in this matchup, and a Grand Slam favors him to an even greater extent. Mager has never won a main-draw match at a slam in his entire career. Millman, on the other hand, has plenty of experience playing and also winning at this level. He is one of the toughest competitors on tour, which especially helps in best-of-five situations. The Aussie has reached at least the third round at three of the four slams, including a quarterfinal run at the 2018 U.S. Open (upset Roger Federer in the process). Millman has advanced at least one round in all five of his clay-court tournaments this spring.

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