French Open Betting / Joe Dyer / 05 June 2010 /

It's Rafa v Robin on the red stuff at Roland Garros where a win would take the Spaniard to the top of the world rankings. Joe Dyer looks at the odds ahead of the men's French Open final

Somebody pinch me - Rafael Nadal is [1.28] for Sunday's French Open title - time open the wallet and fill up on more Spanish Grand Slam glory, no?

Sure, [1.28] is a short price, but is it short enough given Nadal's insanely strong record on the red, red clay of Roland Garros?

Sweden's Robin Soderling, Sunday's opponent, is the only man to have defeated Nadal at the French Open, but that is the sole loss in 38 games and yet, you can get odds a little shy of [1.3] on another victory for the world no.2.

As if revenge on Soderling would not be motivation enough, Nadal knows that a win on Sunday would take him past great rival Roger Federer back to the summit of the world rankings. So, given the strength of the stats and the make-up of the match-up, the odds scream 'back Nadal!' even if they appear on the skinny side. I would argue that they are, in fact, generous in favour of Nadal. If I'm going against the Spaniard in a game where he can claim the no.1 ranking, at Roland Garros, I want bigger than [4.5] on the man across the net.

If you want to back Nadal but at bigger odds maybe the 3-0 win appeals at [2.58]. if you have the opposite view, then Soderling 3-2 and 3-1 both trade around [12.0]. A result from Soderling's wildest dreams - the straight sets victory - can be backed at [23.0].

But it ain't gonna happen folks, so getting behind the Spanish master for a straight sets victory is my call.

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