French Open Betting / Editor / 28 May 2007 /

The two men who dominated the year's first major, the Australian Open, take to the court in Paris to start their French Open campaigns - weather permitting!

Only seven matches were completed on day one and the weather forecast still predicts a dull day. Not that it's ever dull when Roger Federer is around and the world number one starts his bid for the one Grand Slam title to have so far eluded him. Federer, of course, reached the final last year before losing to Rafael Nadal in four sets.

Federer faces American Michael Russell for the first time and will be second match on the Chatrier court. Not surprisingly, Federer is odds on (1.02) to make the second round, while Russell is on offer at 46. Betfair punters also expect a straight sets success for the Swiss ace, with a '3-0 Federer' result trading at 1.23.

Chilean world number five Fernando Gonzalez, who faced Federer in that Melbourne final in January, also starts his bid for glory at Roland Garros when he takes on Radek Stepanek, in what should prove to be a tougher encounter.

Gonzo, 1.2 to win the match, has never been beyond the quarter-finals in Paris but will be looking to make his rise towards the very top of the world rankings speak for itself. How he would love another run to the finals, like the one he enjoyed in Melbourne.
His clash with Stepanek (5.9 to reach the second round) will be one of the highlights, but one of the most intriguing of Monday's matches will pit a French favourite in Arnaud Clement against Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia.

Clement, who will be 30 in December, is number 45 in the world and has four career titles to his name. Ljubicic, who was 28 in March, has seven titles under his belt to go nicely with his world number ranking.

They have met seven times and Ljubicic has won the last five to lead 5-2. Their most recent clash was on the hard courts of last year's Toronto Masters when Ljubicic edged it 7-6 6-4.

Although Ljubicic is in the ascendancy, Clement's determination and stamina should not be underestimated. He was Australian Open runner-up in 2001 and is a long-haul specialist.

He beat Marc Rosset in a Davis Cup rubber lasting 5hrs 46mins in 2001 and played fellow Frenchman Fabrice Santoro in the 2004 French Open in a match lasting 6hrs 33mins.

He played only two tournaments on clay last year and a groin injury ruled him out of the French Open. This clay court season the former world number 10's best effort has been a last 16 in Casablanca, where he lost to his friend Sebastian Grosjean.
Big-serving Ljubicic produced his best Grand Slam performance here last year when he reached the semi-finals. He is king of the aces, finishing last year with 929 and is already top of the aces this season with 448 from 33 matches - 116 ahead of Ivo Karlovic in second.

But like Clement, he has not had a great clay court season, failing to get beyond the last 16 in any of the tournaments he has played. A partisan French crowd could add to the pressure but Ljubicic is trading at 1.53 on Betfair to come through against Clement. Meanwhile, the Frenchman is on offer at 2.8 to claim victory and meet the winner of the match between Switerland's Stanislas Wawrinka and Martin Vassallo Arguello of Argentina in the second round.

In the women's singles defending champion Justin Henin and former champion Serena Williams were among the four winners on Sunday.

The 2003 French Open runner-up Venus Williams gets the chance to join her sister Serena in the second round on Monday, when she takes on France's 17-year-old Alize Cornet, ranked number 118 in the world, who is making only her third appearance at the French Open.

Venus is trading at 1.09 to win her first round tie, with Cornet available to back at 11.5.

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