James has worked for the jockey club and has 20 years sports betting experience he utilises his skills in our tipster competitions and writes sports betting content.
2026 French Open
The French Open gets underway in May of 2026, where Carlos Alcaraz will be looking to defend his title on the men's side, having won now won back-to-back titles, beating Zverev (3-2) in 2024 and then Sinner (3-2) in 2025.
On the women's side of the tournament, Coco Gauff won her first-ever French Open, beating Aryna Sabalenka 2-1 in the final. She adds that to her 2023 US Open success, with two of the four Grand Slam wins.
We have not seen a homegrown player in the men's final since Henri Leconte's defeat in 1988, and on the women's side, it's been since Mary Pierce's defeat in 2005.
In this blog, we will be looking at some statistics for the tournament. We also have a 2025 French Open Preview blog packed full of information, which you will find useful.
Below, we are going to look at how underdogs fare as the rounds go on, when it is worth backing them and which correct set scores appear most during the tournament.
The Ultimate Guide to Tennis Betting Sites in the UK
Early Rounds Favs vs Dogs
How often does an underdog win in the early rounds of the French Open?
Like at the other grand slam tournaments, the underdogs seem to open better on the women's side of the draw, with 29% of them being successful compared to the 24% on the men's side.
- Men's 1st Round Underdog: 153-630 (24.29%)
- Women's 1st Round Underdog: 179-628 (28.50%)
The success rate drops for the next two rounds on the men's side down to 21% & 22%, whilst the women's stays pretty consistent, so rather contradictory numbers when comparing the two versions.
Later Rounds Favs vs Dogs
When does the underdog record improve during the French Open?
You would think that as the tournament goes on, the lower-ranked players get knocked out, so matches become more balanced. However, on the men's side, the underdogs never really get a look in. From R4 onwards, the success rate of the favourite is 83%, 84%, 83% & 90%!
On the women's side, it does get more competitive, round 4 to the semi-finals are the closest rounds, with on average 35.85% of the underdog's winnings, which is a big increase from 28.27% over the opening three rounds.
French Open Correct Set Betting
What is the most common winning set score at the French Open?
This will differ on both sides, with the men's being best of five and the women's being best of three, and there does seem to be more clear-cut matches on the women's side.
A 2-0 win over the last ten years has occurred in 67.85% of the matches (840), whilst a 2-1 win has made up the other 32.15% of the matches (398). The round which has produced the most whitewashes has been the Semi-Finals, with 70%.
On the men's side, a whitewash happens much less often, with just 49.43% (608) of the wins being 3-0, with the R3 matches having the biggest percentage of matches finishing 3-0, with 57% of them.
The other matches have seen 31.79% of them finishing with a 3-1 score (391), and the remaining 18.78% have been closer with 3-2 scores (231).
Contributor Details
James's in-depth knowledge of tennis betting makes him a trusted authority in the world of tennis betting and he produces and manages the tennis content on OLBG including this for the French Open. Andy Powell is the man for collecting data to be used in blogs including this one and he maintains those in this article.
James Banting
Tipster Competition Assistant
Content Editor
