Tennis Betting: The 2010 French Open

Remember when Tiger Woods used to be known for his golf game…and a few years ago he was locking down the golf grand slam in calendar year? Yeah, I barely do as well….

Tiger’s good friend and one of the greatest men’s tennis players ever, Roger Federer has an opportunity to grab an ATP grand slam

After all, a male tennis player hasn’t won the four majors since Rod Laver did it back in 1969 and the 2010 Aussie Open champ, and ATP’s top-ranked player, hasn’t won many titles at Roland Garros

The tournament starts on May 23 and while online sportsbooks have defending champion Federer as a +200 favorite going in, he is not listed as the odds-on favorite — that honor goes to the King of Clay, Rafael Nadal, who SPORTSBETTING.com has listed at -275.

Nadal and Federer have played some classic tennis matches at the French Open, including the tournaments between 2006 and 2008 when Rafa defeated Federer all three years.

Federer and Nadal met in the final of the Madrid Masters last week with Rafael winning the tournament; Roger miffed a shot that gave his opponent the win.

This year’s Aussie Open champ obviously doesn’t want to miss shots like that in Paris next week.

Speaking of Nadal, the ATP’s No. 2 will be looking for a little redemption at this year’s French Open after losing to eventual runner-up Robin Soderling in the fourth round of last year’s tournament.

The loss ended Nadal’s four-year reign of terror at the French Open, making this year his hope to start a new winning streak.

Sportsbooks are reporting more action on Nadal than Federer, which isn’t surprising. So far, Nadal has 31% of all the volume bet on the “Who will win” betting option for the tourney.

Women’s Side

Over on the women’s side, the WTA’s No. 23-ranked player, Justine Henin has been playing well after returning from a short retirement in early-January.

In Henin’s very first tournament back, the Brisbane International, she made it all the way to the final before losing to Kim Clijsters.

At the Australian Open, Henin again made it to the final but lost to Serena Williams.

After another loss to Clijsters at the Sony Ericsson (in the semifinals) Henin finally won a tournament, taking the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.

Might she have enough to win it all at the French Open? It’s not like she hasn’t won before with French Open titles in 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007.

Henin is listed at +175 to add another French Open title.

Enjoy the French Open betting this week.

French Open odds