It's already been a grueling 2024 season for all of the players and it's only just getting into the busy time of the year. Fully into the "Clay Court" season after a very intriguing start to the year on the "Hard Court." 

Entering this year's French Open plenty of the top players have been dealing with issues with their bodies. World #1 Novak Djokovic might not be dealing with an injury, but he's dealing with something. As a matter of fact, he's yet to win a single tournament in 2024. #2 Carlos Alcaraz enters the big one "concerned" of his forearm still. Yes, they say he's "pain-free," coming in. However, there have been reports that he is still worried about hitting his forehand with full power. #3 in the world, Jannik Sinner also arrives in Paris with a lingering hip injury. After winning the Australian Open, fans were expecting him to play in Rome (his home country.) He wasn't able to play and everyone is eager to see if he can win another slam despite the setback. Many more players have been forced to withdraw from tournaments and not play due to injuries as well. Hopefully there's nothing to worry about for this tournament, but time will tell.  

Kicking things off with an epic showdown, tennis fans have already been talking anxiously about the #4 Alexander Zverev/Rafael Nadal match. In what could very well be Nadal's last French Open of his career, he will have to go through one of today's best players in order to make a run at glory once again. Zverev knows that this match will not be easy, even considering Nadal's current form and health. This one is MUST-WATCH TV. (Zverev is -400)

In a battle of the so-called veteran, we will get to watch the 39 & 37 year old's Stan Wawrinka/Andy Murray showdown in the opening round. Yes, it might not be as exciting of a match than the first one that I mentioned. However, this is a match that long time Tennis fans will be tuning into. Stan has won 16 tournaments (three grand slams) in his time in the tennis world including one in this very tournament back in 2015. On the other hand, the Brit has won 46 titles (three grand slams) over the course of his career. No, he's never won the French. But, he has featured in a final back in 2016. (Wawrinka is -200)

On the women's side, a very good matchup will be #23 Anna Kalinskaya/Clara Burel. Both of these women are extremely talented and enter the tournament in the top 50 in the world. Kalinskaya hasn't really been all that impressive on Clay so far. But, she's coming off an excellent Quarter-Final finish in Australia and she's already beaten world #1 Iga Swiatek this season. For Clara Burel, she's not as well known in the tennis world. She made it to the Rof32 in the Australian Open, and will continue to push each and every one of her opponents. This should be a fascinating watch.  (Kalinskaya is -145)

Hopeful of yet another Grand-Slam win to his name, Novak Djokovic will have probably the easiest path to the final with #3 Sinner and #2 Alcaraz on the other side. If Rafa Nadal somehow manages to make it that far, a Semi Final matchup with Djokovic would be epic. Looking at the women's draw, #2 Aryna Sabalenka & #4 Elena Rybakina are on the same side. A match between former #1 Naomi Osaka and current #1 Iga Swiatek could very well happen in the second round. Overall many very interesting matchups could play out over the course of this tournament. 

Men's: 

Carlos Alcaraz +260
Novak Djokovic +330 
Jannik Sinner +450
Alexander Zverev +700
Stefanos Tsitsipas +850 
Casper Ruud +1200
Andrey Rublev +2500
Rafael Nadal +2500
Daniil Medvedev +3000 
Holger Rune +4000

Women's: 

Iga Swiatek -165 
Aryna Sabalenka +550 
Coco Gauff +900 
Elena Rybakina +1000
Danielle Collins +2000 
Jalena Ostapenko +4000 
Maria Sakkari +5000 
Qinwen Zheng +5000 
Mirra Andreeva +6000 
Ons Jabeur +6500 

It's very hard to go against the two favorite's to win the whole thing. That being said, I do expect both Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek to come away with the French Open this year. They are both just way too talented on clay and I don't see them losing.

A couple of players that could also win are Novak Djokovic (of course,) Jannik Sinner and Rafael Nadal (if he's playing his best) on the Men's side. For the women, Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina could also win with a bit of luck. The top four women at the moment are simply much better than the rest of the field. Therefore, I believe that it's almost a guarantee that one of them wins.

Best Bets: Carlos Alcaraz +260 to Win & Iga Swiatek -165 to Win.