Andy Schooler landed a 9/5 winner on the opening day of the French Open. Here’s his preview of Monday’s action.
French Open betting tips: Daily best bets
1pt Stan Wawrinka to beat Jesper de Jong at 6/4 (Sky Bet, Betfred)
1.5pts over 33.5 games in Ugo Humbert v Adrian Mannarino at 9/10 (Unibet, 10bet)
Stan Wawrinka v Jesper de Jong
It’s 11 years since Wawrinka produced one of the great performances to beat Novak Djokovic in the final at Roland Garros, famous shorts and all.
Now 41, this season represents the Swiss’ last dance a tournament which brings back such happy memories – he’ll retire at the end of the season. I therefore think he’ll be fully motivated for this clash.
Some will be concerned about Wawrinka lasting the course in best-of-five-sets tennis, especially given the high temperatures in Paris at present. However, you only need to go back a few months to recall him winning a four-and-a-half hour clash at the Australian Open. He’s not done just yet.
While wins have understandably been few and far between in 2026, there have been a few decent signs in recent weeks. Last week, he won a round at his home event in Geneva before bowing out to Alex Michelsen in a match settled by two tie-breaks.
Now he goes up against a player really struggling for form.
De Jong has gone just 1-8 at tour level in 2026 his only win coming against the world number 281. Admittedly, there have been some tough draws in that run but then De Jong has also lost to world number 465 Dhakshineswar Suresh in Davis Cup.
More recently, De Jong won only three games when he faced Nuno Borges in Rome, while last week he actually lost in qualifying to Michael Zheng, only to get into the main draw as a lucky loser.
It’s worth noting that Zheng won only five games in his first-round match on Sunday.
All things considered, I believe Wawrinka has a decent shot here, better than the 6/4 price he’s on offer at.
Ugo Humbert v Adrian Mannarino
Mannarino has lost all seven matches he’s played on clay this season and frankly that’s no great surprise. This simply isn’t his surface.
He’s subsequently a big outsider in this all-French affair.
Yet there are reasons to suggest he can keep this closer than the layers expect.
First of all, Mannarino leads the pair’s head-to-head 3-1, even winning against his higher-ranked foe in Montpellier earlier this year.
Crucially, though, it’s the conditions which appeal to me.
High temperatures mean the claycourts are playing faster than normal and that will suit Mannarino’s game.
He’s a player who likes to come forward whenever possible and attacking tennis is much easier to play on a quicker court.
Mannarino kept things competitive when facing Raphael Collignon in Geneva last week – another venue where conditions were faster than average for clay given the altitude involved – and he can do so again here.
Mannarino gets a 7.5-game start on the handicap but I think the better way to side with him here is by backing over 33.5 games.
I’d expect this to land if the veteran wins a set, while he might not even have to do that for this to cash – Humbert plays plenty of tie-breaks with one occurring in three of his last six matches and 13 of 28 across the season so far.
Posted at 20:45 BST on 23/05/26
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