Olympics Men’s Tennis 1st Round
Credit: Tennis.com
Nadal ML/Zverez ML (-192)
Let me start off by saying the odds for this are not ideal by any means but I don’t really care because I love this bet.
Nadal is undoubtably the greatest clay court player of all time. Holding a record of 112-4 at this venue and a 14-time French Open champion at Roland Garros, he has been virtually unbeatable on this surface. If we flash back to early June when the 2024 French Open took place Nadal lost in the first round and it wasn't even really competitive. Rafa lost in three sets, 6-3, 7-6 and 6-3. There is something to take away from that though, Nadal battled injuries throughout the 2023 season and suffered a minor tear at the Australian Open in the beginning of 2024. He wasn't even close to 100% when he lost to Zverev in the first round of the French Open. Thankfully his opponent is no where near the skill level of Zverev.
Nadal will face Marton Fucsovics in the first round, a man who hasn't had much success as of lately. Ranked just 83rd in the world and has a record of 11-10 on the year. Secondly, Fucsovics has lost 8 of his L9 matches including a 0-3 defeat in this years French Open. With a career record of 10-11 at Roland Garros and a loser in 5 of his L8 matches at this venue I don’t expect him to be able to compete against the GOAT, even if he is still dealing with some injuries.
Not sure Nadal will make it far in the singles tournament, but I for sure expect him to make it out of the opening round.
Next, moving onto the second leg of this parlay, the leg that should be sweat free.
Even though Zverev has some rough legal claims against him that won’t stop me from making some money. Backing Zverev in the first round after he nearly won the French Open just a month ago, losing in five sets to Alcaraz in the final.
Zverev looked really good on clay, winning three matches in three sets, one match in four sets and 3 matches in five sets including the thrilling final. Don’t forget Zverev should have won the French, he was winning 2 sets to 1 until Carlos went into another mode and dominated the final two sets.
I truly have no worries backing Zverev against Munar who is 12-17 on the year and is just 4-7 career at Roland Garros.
Like I always say everyday is a new day and it can be anyone’s day but both of these guys are levels above their opponent and should have little troubles moving into round two. GL.
NOTE: Nadal suffered a minor injury in training this afternoon, he is uncertain to play in the singles and is debating just focusing on doubles. I placed this bet before the injury but please just be on the lookout for updates. If he pulls out, his portion of the bet will just be voided.
