Women’s French Open Picks, Predictions: Parry to Challenge Defending Champion Krejcikova (May 23)
Robert Prange/Getty. Pictured: Barbora Krejcikova hits a backhand at a French Open practice session.
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The first day of the French Open is finished, and if that's the quality of tennis we'll be seeing all tournament, we're in for a treat.
Monday's first round matches offer us more compelling, value-filled matchups, including Frenchwoman Diane Parry against defending champion Barbora Krejcikova.
Read below for two plays from Monday at Roland Garros!
Match times are subject to change. Read here for tips on viewing tennis matches.
Bianca Andreescu (-1110) vs. Ysaline Bonaventure (+600)
5 a.m. ET
Bianca Andreescu has returned to the WTA Tour playing excellent tennis. Andreescu made the quarterfinals of Rome, but fell to Iga Swiatek 6-7(2), 0-6.
In the three matches before playing Swiatek (an outlier opponent), Andreescu held all three to under 45% of their second serves won. In addition, the Canadian was only broken four times in the three matches, saving 15-of-19 break points.
Since her return to the WTA Tour from injury, Andreescu has gone 6-3 (all on clay), with respectable losses to Sabalenka, Pegula and Swiatek.
The Canadian has heavy groundstrokes that she hits with great controlled aggression. Andreescu's variety is incredible, with perfectly-placed drop shots and slices.
Ysaline Bonaventure has had a resurgence of form in this clay-court season. Bonaventure qualified for Roland Garros, beating Anastasia Kulikova in the final qualifying round.
Bonaventure won 78% of her service points and was only broken twice in the match against Kulikova.
On return, the Belgian won 69% of her second-serve return points and was broken five times. In all three of Bonaventure's qualifying matches, she held her opponents to 50% or less of their second serve won.
Bonaventure is having a good season playing mainly on the ITF Circuit, going 25-12 on the year overall and 10-5 on clay. Her lefty game works well on the clay and she's able to dictate with her forehand.
While Bonaventure's backhand can become erratic when pressured, she does a great job of positioning herself on the court where she can get as many forehands as possible.
Andreescu has the more complete game and will be able to both power through Bonaventure and drag her around the court with her variety.
However, though Bonaventure won't win this match, she's playing really good tennis right now. Her forehand is firing, her backhand is holding up well and she's doing a great job with her point construction.
Bonaventure is also used to the conditions in Paris, and she can dictate some points on her forehand. And while a lot has changed since 2017, Bonaventure won't be intimidated by Andreescu having beaten the Canadian in a Toronto ITF event back then.
Pick: Bonaventure +6.5 games (-135 via PointsBet)
Barbora Krejcikova (-500) vs. Diane Parry (+340)
6:30 a.m. ET
Krejcikova will surely have wonderful memories of Paris, having won the 2021 Roland Garros singles title. However, she has been injured since Doha and had her elbow and leg taped up during a recent practice.
While Krejcikova hasn't played on clay this season, given her success at Roland Garros last year, it's clear she can compete on the dirt.
She went 15-3 on clay last season and has won 72% of the clay matches in her career. But the Czech will certainly be rusty in her match with Parry, so she will almost assuredly not be at last year's level yet.
Krejcikova has won four doubles majors and her net game is outstanding. She hits with a high level of controlled aggression to dominate from the baseline and is especially good with getting angles out wide on her groundstrokes.
Parry hasn't had the clay season she wanted, but she has a lot of potential on the surface. In her last tournament at WTA Strasbourg, Parry lost 3-6, 4-6 to eventual-champion Angelique Kerber.
Including the loss to Kerber, Parry has gone just 3-5 on clay this season, but she has won 62% of her professional clay matches.
Last season, Parry went 50-20 on clay and won four titles on the surface, though none were bigger than a Challenger).
Parry's game suits the clay well. She is a clean ball striker with a heavy forehand and one-handed backhand. Parry can mix up the patterns of play with her variety well and moves well on the dirt.
Krejcikova is the defending champion and a deserved favorite in this match, but given the injury concerns and the fact that she has multiple areas of her body taped up, she likely won't be at 100% for this matchup.
Parry is a good clay-court player and will have the home crowd on her side. The Frenchwoman is solid from the baseline and will be able to hang with Krejcikova in baseline exchanges while moving well on the clay.
I'll back her to keep this tight.
Pick: Parry +5.5 games (-125 via PointsBet)
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