Thursday French Open Odds, Preview, Picks: Medvedev to Be Challenged By Djere (May 26)

Thursday French Open Odds, Preview, Picks: Medvedev to Be Challenged By Djere (May 26) article feature image
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Eurasia Sport Images/Getty. Pictured: Daniil Medvedev.

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It's time for second round action at the French Open, and a few big players will be taking the court.

The good news is that there are some great opportunities to exploit mis-priced lines.

Read on to see how I'll be betting two of the premier matches from the slate of tennis at Roland Garros on Thursday.

Match times are subject to change. Read here for tips on viewing tennis matches.

Daniil Medvedev (-265) vs. Laslo Djere (+215)

6 a.m. ET

After falling in straight sets to Gasquet in Geneva, Medvedev returned to the courts with a 6-2 6-2 6-2 thrashing of Facundo Bagnis.

Before his run to the Roland Garros quarterfinals last year, Medvedev had yet to win a main draw match at this tournament. Even though he has continued to improve on the surface over the years, Medvedev is nowhere near the threat he is on hard courts.

Coming in with a 10-6 record on the surface this year, Laslo Djere will be looking to make a run on the surface that he strongly prefers.

This will be Djere’s second chance to dethrone a top ranked player this year as they return from an absence on the courts. Djere battled with Novak Djokovic before losing in a third set tiebreaker at a time when Djokovic was still trying to find his previous form.

Using his excellent movement and knowledge of game play on the clay, Djere was able to push the world No. 1 to the brink.

I expect the underdog Djere to hang around in this match and make life difficult for Medvedev. The Russian is the better player, but with his game in unstable form returning from injury, he may experience an uptick in errors while Djere will use his clay court experience to draw those errors out.

Medvedev is known for his remarkable defensive skills but surprisingly has yet to bring that success to these clay courts. Neither player will go down without a fight and both should have periods where they are more error prone than the other.

I’ll take this match to go over, with players riding hot and cold streaks.

Pick: Over 35.5 Games (-120 via DraftKings)

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Daniel Evans (-230) vs. Mikael Ymer (+188)

9:30 a.m. ET

Dan Evans takes on Mikael Ymer after both players ran through the first round with ease.

Evans has struggled on the clay like usual this year coming into the French Open with a 3-6 record on the surface.

However, his win over Francisco Cerundolo in straight sets was an impressive opening round showing. The Brit's triumph in the previous round was his first victory at the French Open, falling in four consecutive main draw matches before this year.

Mikael Ymer arrived in terrible form, having not won a match on clay (0-4) while losing to three players ranked outside of the top 100. In past years he has earned respectable results on clay with a 3-3 main draw record at Roland Garros.

Although he sits at only 0.500 here, his losses came to Zverev, Djokovic and Sinner, and he took care of his more winnable matches.

Evans plays a counter-punching style while Ymer plays with much more topspin and better movement. Despite Ymer's poor form, looking to back the comfortable clay-courter is the best bet.

Ymer will have the chance to expose Evans on the slower court at Roland Garros and I expect him to have a good look to win this match.

Picks: Ymer +4.5 Games (-112 via FanDuel) | Ymer ML (+188 via FanDuel)

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