French Open Odds: Alexander Zverev 6/1 after Italian Open success

Alexander Zverev’s odds to clinch a first Grand Slam title at the French Open next month have been slashed to 6/1 after the German won his second Italian Open title with a dominant display against Nicolas Jarry on Sunday.

The 27-year-old, who was seeded third for the Rome tournament, clinched a straight-sets victory over first-time finalist Jarry, dropping only five points on serve as he romped to a 6-4 7-5 win.

Zverev in form ahead of second Slam of the season

Zverev’s victory against Jarry never looked in doubt and, despite the Chilean’s inexperience at this level, the display by Zverev cannot be downplayed.

Jarry has beaten three top-10 ranked opponents this year - Carlos Alcaraz, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Casper Ruud - and has been boosted up to a career-high ranking of 16 following his impressive overall performance in Rome.

Sunday's result though continued an excellent run of form for Zverev, who made it to the semi-finals of the Australian Open earlier this year and will be looking forward to returning to the clay of Roland Garros, having reached the semi-final stage in each of the last three seasons.

The German's victory in Rome means he will head to Paris as world number four and he has every chance of upsetting the odds in what looks to be a wide-open tournament.

Poor form and injuries leave French Open wide open

Carlos Alcaraz is the 7/4 favourite to win in Paris but he missed the Italian Open with a forearm injury, while third in the betting at 4/1 is Jannik Sinner, who was also absent from his home Masters 1000 event due to problems with his hip.

Second-favourite Novak Djokovic, who is 11/4 in the betting and was the top seed in Rome, was eliminated in the third round by world number 25 Alejandro Tabilo in what is a continuation of a spell of poor form from one of the greatest players of all time.

Djokovic has yet to win a title this year and, statistically speaking, the French Open is his weakest Grand Slam with just three victories (2016, 2021 & 2023), although the utter dominance of Rafael Nadal at this venue should not be forgotten.

Strong clay game boosts Zverev’s chances

Zverev has already beaten Carlos Alcaraz this season and was incredibly close to reaching a second career Grand Slam Final earlier this year, throwing away a two-set lead to lose a thriller against Daniil Medvedev in the semi-finals at the Australian Open.

While the player himself claims he is an all-court player, he has a better record on clay and his power does lend itself to striking through the slower surface. He has won 72% of matches on clay throughout his career, bettering his hard-court performance of 67.7%. 

This difference has become wider over the past year, with 14 of his 17 clay-court games being victories (82.4%) compared to 22 of his 31 hard-court showings (71%).

If Sinner and Alcaraz continue to struggle for fitness and Djokovic’s performances do not improve, it could all fall into place for Zverev in France and he could be on course for his first Grand Slam title.

Odds displayed were correct and available at the time of writing and are subject to fluctuation.