French Open women's singles semi-finals: Tips and suggested bets

One of the semi-finals of the French Open women's singles has panned out almost exactly as expected while the other threw up some surprises.

Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff will take each other on in the first of those last four matches and the battle between No 1 and No 3 seed is one many anticipated when the draw was completed.

The other semi-final wasn't one too many saw coming though with unseeded Mirra Andreeva set to take on No 12 seed Jasmine Paolini.

Andreeva was backed as the unseeded player with the best chance at Roland Garros but exceeded expectations with a stunning comeback win over Arna Sabalenka in the last eight.

Meanwhile, Paolini had earlier secured arguably the biggest win of her career as she stunned Elena Rybakina to reach her first Grand Slam semi-final.

 

French Open Women's Singles Semi-Finals: Iga Swiatek vs Coco Gauff

Iga Swiatek holds an incredible 10-1 lead in the head-to-head between these players and while the gulf in class between these two has seemingly shrunk in recent times it still seems that the Pole is the player who will be expected to triumph whenever they meet.

Swiatek is 19-1 on clay this season which is just another reason to back her for the win in this one no matter how tempting the odds on a Guaff upset look.

Gauff had a reasonably easy path through the first week of the tournament but against Swiatek, the danger of a blowout loss is a clear and present one.

Still, the way Gauff has been playing does make the Total sets over/under 2.5 over option an enticing one for anyone looking to beef up their acca with a solid bet against generous odds.

Swiatek winning the opening set 6-4 is something that has happened three times in 11 previous meetings between the players and it could well be a scoreline that hits again.

Even if Swiatek to win will only be offered at short odds, there is great value to be gained from nailing the set score, which you'd fancy will go in the Pole's favour and a 2-1 scoreline would also be worth a tidy payday for the punter backing the world No 1 to shade a three-setter.

 

French Open Women's Singles Semi-Finals: Mirra Andreeva vs Jasmine Paolini

Andreeva is being backed to make sure that the French Open women's singles final features an unseeded player for the second year in a row, despite being outranked by Paolini.

The reason for the faith being shown in Andreeva can be traced back to the sole match between these two players which took place at the end of April when the young Russian bested Paolini in straight sets on the clay of Madrid.

Paolini will know that she has to start well and she could be a great bet to win the first set of the match.

To add a better multiplier to any bet on Paolini taking the opening set, the option to back the Italian to win the opening set in a tiebreaker is one that could be well-rewarded.

Andreeva for an unqualified win isn't even ranked as an upset by most bookmakers, but there is good value to be had in backing her to repeat her comeback win over Sabalenka and notch another win by the set-score of 2-1.