Wednesday French Open Picks | Bouzkova vs Fett, Cocciaretto vs Bucsa (May 29)
Silvia Lore/Getty. Pictured: Elisabetta Cocciaretto.
After three rain-filled days of first round action, the field has been whittled down to 64, and now we know who plays in the second round, with each day seeing an entire half of the draw hashing it out on the grounds at Roland Garros.
Here are my picks for Marie Bouzkova vs Jana Fett and Elisabetta Cocciaretto vs Cristina Bucsa in my Wednesday French Open picks for May 29.
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Wednesday French Open Picks
Marie Bouzkova (-300) vs Jana Fett (+220)
5 a.m. ET
I think Bouzkova will be thanking her lucky stars that the rain disrupted Fett's first round encounter with Jessica Bouzas Maneiro and ruined the Spaniard's momentum. Once the match restarted, Bouzas Maneiro fell apart from 4-1* 30-40 up with a chance to take a commanding lead and couldn't find the court with her forehand.
Now Fett is tasked with another wall from the baseline, though Bouzkova is probably more of a hard courter. She makes up for the slight downgrade in surface comfort with simply being a much more talented version of Bouzas Maneiro.
Fett has won a decent number of matches this season down on the ITF circuit, but her game is more power-centric and aggressive and the error count on slower courts like these can get up there.
Keep in mind, she entered the main draw as a lucky loser as well, losing in qualifying to Zeynep Sonmez, another player whose brand of tennis is solidity from the baseline. I'm not a believer yet in Fett on clay — especially against someone in the top-50 whose style can trouble her on slower clay.
Pick: Bouzkova -4.5 games (-105 via BetMGM)
Elisabetta Cocciaretto (-190) vs Cristina Bucsa (+155)
10:30 a.m. ET
I think some people may be hesitant to back a player coming off an emotional victory that took about 2.5 hours, but with Cocciaretto being cheaper than a four-game favorite, I'm going to have a go at it.
I simply don't see a whole lot that Bucsa does better than Cocciaretto, and to me that makes the Italian at least one break per set better than her opponent. She may not have an overwhelming serve or forehand, but she's a bit more aggressive on the latter than Bucsa and she's been slightly more reliable on the former as well.
Even if we look to consistency from the baseline or who is more comfortable on clay, I don't see Bucsa clearly ahead in either department. Cocciaretto also prides herself on her ability to cover the court, scramble and defend. She's also someone who grew up playing on the red dirt.
I've seen Bucsa have too many spells in matches where her forehand deserts her as well, and she's managed to blow matches to lesser players than Cocciaretto in 2024, while failing this number on a few occasions as well.
Pick: Cocciaretto -3.5 games (+100 via DraftKings)
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