Federer has to be backed for French Open after Djokovic injury

For a player that has reached the final of the French Open in five of the last seven years and lost to a finalist in the other two, 20/1 seems a massively big price for Roger Federer to win a second Roland Garros title this year.

Ladbrokes are offering the best price on Federer adding to his sole previous French Open success in 2009 and the injury problems of the market’s leading pair Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic indicate that this price is well worth taking.

Nadal’s comeback after a seven-month layoff has started impressively, with three tournament victories, which includes two on clay.

Given that he has only ever lost one French Open match, a price of 4/5 that he wins the Grand Slam again for an eighth time seems fair.

However, reports suggest that he is still being bothered by his knee problems and he will have to be carefully looked after to produce his best at Roland Garros.

There are now also doubts over the fitness of world number one Djokovic, who rolled an ankle representing Serbia at the Davis Cup.

Djokovic played through the pain to help secure a victory over the US, but at what cost?

He has apparently broken down in tears during a Serbian TV interview, which suggests the injury is fairly serious and there is a strong possibility that he will be kept off court until the start of the second Grand Slam of the year.

Djokovic has now become hard to back 13/8 to win the French Open for the first time in his career and complete a full set of Grand Slam victories.

Aside from Federer, Ladbrokes are also offering the best price on a few other players winning the French Open this year.

Among the forerunners is Juan Martin del Potro at 16/1, while 500/1 is available for home hope Gilles Simon, although he has never previously made it beyond the fourth round.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.