The 2017 French Open has been a tournament of utter dominance for Rafael Nadal so far. The clay court master has not dropped a set and only lost a ridiculous 29 games en route to his 10th final appearance. If he claims the title, it will be his 15th Grand Slam win, surpassing Pete Sampras for 2nd on the all time list. He will also become the first player to ever win a single Grand Slam 10 times, and can improve his French Open record to 79-2 with a win.
His opponent, Stan Wawrinka, has gone about his business fairly quietly in the round matches, dispatching his first five opponents in straight sets to set up a semi final matchup with World No.1 Andy Murray. The Swiss star overcame Murray in five sets to book a place in the final against Nadal.
If there’s one critique that can be made on Rafa’s tournament so far it’s that he hasn’t played against much quality, with semi final opponent Dominic Thiem being the only player Nadal has faced inside the top 15 in the world. You can only beat who they put in front of you though and Rafa has been doing so easily.
His performance against Thiem, who many thought was a strong chance to win the tournament, was an absolute masterclass of clay court tennis, and makes betting against him in the final extremely difficult.
Wawrinka has faced much more difficult opponents and also dealt with them easily. He cruised past Fabio Fognini in the third round before dispatching of Gael Monfils and Marin Cilic in straight sets.
As good as Wawrinka might be playing at the moment, there’s a reason Nadal has won nine titles already and has only lost twice in his long French Open career. His slower surface allows him time to run onto his deadly forehand and the amount of top spin he generates makes playing him from the baseline near impossible on the bouncy surface.
Rafa is also one of the best, if not the best defensive player in history, and thrives on opponent’s mistakes. The speed of the clay courts means players can get to more balls making rallies longer, which plays right into Nadal’s hands.
It might be the shortest priced favourite we have ever seen in a Grand Slam final, with Nadal opening at crazy odds of $1.17. If you think Wawrinka has a chance than his $4.75 price tag might be appealing, but there’s no way we are betting against Rafa here, the man was born on clay.
Ladbrokes have a $25 max bet special on for Rafa to win in straight sets where you can get a boosted price of $2.25, regardless, the $2 being offered for him to win 3-0 is steal great value.
TIP: Rafael Nadal to win in straight sets - $2.25 at Ladbrokes (Max $25)
TIP: Rafael Nadal to win in straight sets - $2 at Ladbrokes
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