The two Men’s semifinal matches at the French Open are filled with most of the event’s top contenders. The first matchup between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner is a matchup of two of the top-three pre-tournament favorites, while the second semifinal between Alexander Zverev and Casper Ruud pits two men who had the fourth and sixth-best pre-tournament odds.
In the post-Big Three era, most tennis fans are looking for the Alcaraz-Sinner rivalry to be the most intense rivalry on the men’s side for years to come, and their last meeting at a Grand Slam (the 2022 US Open quarterfinals) was a five-set thriller that featured two tiebreaks.
And while Casper Ruud made his semifinal appearance via walkover after Novak Djokovic withdrew from the tournament with a torn meniscus, he is well accomplished at this event, and is looking for his third consecutive finals appearance. Alexander Zverev will prove a tough foe, however, and is motivated to win his first Grand Slam title.
Read on for 2024 Men’s French Open picks and predictions for the semifinals match between Casper Ruud vs. Alexander Zverev.
2024 Men’s French Open Semifinal Picks: Casper Ruud vs. Alexander Zverev
(odds via DraftKings)
Casper Ruud vs. Alexander Zverev Prediction
Whereas many tennis matches make bettors get creative with their wagers because of steep moneyline odds removing all value, this matchup is a virtual coin flip, which has us excited to simply back who we think will win this match. For us, that answer is Zverev, even if Ruud has a distinct advantage of being on the court for much less time given that he did not have to play a quarterfinal match.
Zverev and Ruud have split their four head-to-head matches, even though Ruud won the only matchup on clay, a straight-set victory at last year’s French Open. Zverev has served much better this tournament, so we do not expect Ruud to have 10 break-point chances (of which he converted six) like he did in last year’s matchup.
We said when we picked Zverev to win the French Open that it was likely a blessing in disguise that he drew Rafael Nadal as a first-round opponent, as he could not only get over the mental hurdle of losing to him (after he was injured) in the 2022 semifinal, but that such a difficult match would focus him the rest of the way. He is battle-tested with two five-set wins over Holger Rune and Talloon Griekspoor during this run, and while many will pick Ruud being that he is a two-time finalist in this event, Zverev’s four consecutive semifinal appearances are nothing to sneeze at. The German was still working his way back from injury in last year’s French Open thrashing, but he is healthier this year, is in a better place mentally, and he will exact his revenge on Ruud to earn his first finals appearance at Roland Garros.
Pick: Zverev Moneyline (-115 on DraftKings)
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Mike Spector is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive and follow him @MikeSpector01
