French Open Accumulator: Sharapova to blitz Bouchard
Published:Three former champions are in second round action and they’re taken to anchor our 17/1 accumulator.
Twice a finalist at Roland Garros in the last three years, Francesca Schiavone put the travails of three straight clay court defeats behind her as she breezed past Melinda Czink in round one and the Italian dirt specialist can land odds of 5/6 against world number 21 Kirsten Flipkens at an Open she won in 2010.
It was her Belgian rival who won the pair’s hard court duel in Hobart earlier this term, but she’s yet to win a second round match on clay in six attempts this year and was taken to three sets by world number 122 Flavia Pennetta in her opening contest.
Na Li was Schiavone’s conqueror in the second of those finals and she’s expected to come through against Bethanie Mattek-Sands in straight sets, just as she did when the pair clashed on the Stuttgart clay earlier this year – 4/7 is the price about a two sets to love win for the Chinese.
Home heroine Marion Bartoli may have survived a match point in the third set in winning her rain-interrupted first round fixture, but she’s fancied to fall foul of Colombian qualifier Mariana Duque-Marino.
Bartoli may be rated some 149 places above her foe, but she’s never got past the third round at Roland Garros and has concluded just one winning season in her last three on clay.
Duque-Marino has been in flying form in ITF clay events of late, winning two tournaments earlier this year and could cause an upset at 6/5.
Fellow gallic girl Alize Cornet came into this tournament with the wind in her sails having won her last tournament in Strasbourg and she beat opponent Silvia Soler-Espinosa in straight sets in their only previous career meeting. Cornet is 2/5 to end her opponent’s interests in this year’s French Open.
Maria Sharapova has converted five of her six second round matches this year in under 16 games including when stuffing Eugenie Bouchard 6-2. 6-0 in Miami and the number two seed is fancied to continue that run in France. Under 16.5 games in their latest meeting can be backed at 10/11.
French Open selections
Francesca Schiavone to beat Kirsten Flipkens @ 4/5
Na Li to beat Bethanie Mattek-Sands 2-0 @ 4/7
Mariana Duque-Marino to beat Marion Bartoli @ 6/5
Alize Cornet to beat Silvia Silver-Espinosa @ 2/5
Maria Sharapova v Eugenie Bouchard under 16.5 games @ 10/11
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publication
