Since Serena Williams’s dominance of the sport ended back in 2017, women’s tennis has become incredibly hard to predict. To put it into perspective, there have been 15 different winners of the 23 Grand Slams in that period and some very big-priced winners — including Emma Raducanu’s 499/1 US Open triumph in 2021, when the Brit incredibly went from qualifier to champion at Flushing Meadows.
Those who enjoy looking for upsets in the Women’s French Open odds will be very happy with how the tournament has panned out thus far, with some very big shocks taking place in the opening rounds at Roland-Garros. That said, let’s take a look at some of the surprise results thus far.
Anna Blinkova def. Caroline Garcia (4-6, 6-4, 7-5)
Arguably the biggest upset of the tournament after the opening rounds, local star Caroline Garcia was stunned by Anna Blinkova in a three-set thriller on Court Philippe-Chatrier in round two. Born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye on the outskirts of Paris, the lively crowd was behind Garcia and the fifth seed took the first set 6-4.
World No. 56 Blinkova wouldn’t go down that easily, however, breaking Garcia twice to win the second set 6-3 and blow the match wide open. The Russian won the third set 7-5 to claim a monumental victory at Roland-Garros and send Garcia packing in the second round for the third year in a row.
Elisabetta Cocciaretto def. Petra Kvitova (6-3, 6-4)
When Petra Kvitova, who is currently ranked 10th in the world and has won 30 singles titles — including Wimbledon twice — was drawn to face World No. 44 Elisabetta Cocciaretto in the first round of the French Open, it seemed there was only going to be one winner at Roland Garros.
Add to that the fact the Italian had never beaten someone in the top 10 in her two previous attempts, and it looked like it was going to be one-way traffic. However, Cocciaretto had other ideas and was third-time lucky after all — winning 6-3, 6-4 against the two-time French Open semi-finalist to land her first win in the main event at Roland Garros.
Anna Karolina Schmiedlova def. Veronika Kudermetova (6-3, 6-1)
As short as 1/10 to win this first-round matchup, it’s fair to say Veronika Kudermetova was expected to wipe the floor with World No. 11 Anna Karolina Schmiedlova.
The Russian showed good form to reach the semi-final of the French Open warm-up tournaments in Madrid and Rome, but she played far from her best making 40 unforced errors as she was beaten 6-3, 6-1 in straight sets by her Slovakian counterpart.
Elina Avanesyan def. Belinda Bencic (6-3, 2-6, 6-4)
Kudermetova wasn’t the only short-price favourite to be beaten in the first round, as 12th seed Belinda Bencic was stunned by World No. 134 Elina Avanesyan. 1/9 in the betting pre-match, the onus was on the current Olympic champion, but she was beaten 6-3 in the first set by the World No. 134 — who also entered the main draw as a lucky loser.
A 6-2 win in the second set looked to sway the pendulum back in Bencic’s favour and many people would have expected her to see out the match from there. But Avanesyan, who was playing just her second Grand Slam main draw game, won the deciding set 6-4 to claim her first win at one of the big four.