The French Open rolls on in Paris this Wednesday, with third seed Carlos Alcaraz taking on qualifier Jesper de Jong in the second round. Can this lowly ranked Dutchman spring a surprise on Spain’s golden boy? Or will Alcaraz make light work of De Jong? Read on for our Alcaraz vs De Jong prediction and betting tips.
Alcaraz came into Paris with injury concerns. The world No 3 was forced to withdraw from both Barcelona and Rome to rehab a muscle issue in his forearm. Whether or not he was going to be fully fit for Roland-Garros was unknown.
That is, until he raced past lucky loser JJ Wolf 6-1, 6-2, 6-1, looking like his usual athletic self. Now that Alcaraz has allayed any doubts over his fitness, can the 21-year-old replicate his first-round antics against De Jong?
For De Jong, the qualifier well and truly has a head of steam up. He moved through qualifying in impressive fashion, landing Brit Jack Draper in the first round. After conceding a 2-0 set lead and heading to a final set, De Jong showed great heart to overcome the world No 39 and book his spot in the second round.
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How the Bookies View It: Nothing But Alcaraz
It’s not often that you’ll see odds quite as one-sided as these. Alcaraz is at an amazing 1/100 to defeat De Jong, with the Dutchman returning 25/1 for a victory. The Spaniard has a -9.5 handicap at 8/11, and is forecast to win 3-0 for a 2/7 payout.
Recent Head-to-Head: First Meeting
Alcaraz and De Jong have not met before on the ATP Tour, making this Wednesday the first time they share a court.
Anything Else Catch the Eye?
Alcaraz has never been upset at a Grand Slam in his career. His last six defeats have come at the hands of established top five players in Alexander Zverev (twice), Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev.
Prior to this, the other four players to defeat him at a Grand Slam–Matteo Berrettini, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Jan-Lennard Struff and Mikael Ymer–were all considerably ahead of Alcaraz at the time of meeting.
He does have a penchant for tough second round matches, however. Alcaraz has only won half of his 12 second round matches in straight sets.
It’s safe to say world No 176 Jesper de Jong is in the form of his life right now. The 23-year-old moved through qualifying without dropping a set, and just claimed the biggest win of his career in round one over Draper. In that match, he was incredibly clutch, winning nine of 10 break points.
Alcaraz vs De Jong Betting Tips & Predictions
Alcaraz will win this match, there’s little question. However, his history of tricky second round matches makes us think there’s value in betting on this one to be a little longer than the bookies expect.
- De Jong to win a set @ 5/2
- Total games over 27.5 @ 5/6
These two will take to Court Philippe-Chatrier second on day four of the French Open, so get your bets in quick. Check out our overall predictions for the men’s draw too.
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