After a summer full of soccer, golf and tennis, the Olympics are here to put a bow on the summer sports calendar. That means a tennis tournament featuring a strong portion of the best players in the world, each looking to achieve glory for their nation.
This iteration of the Olympic tennis tournament will be played at Roland Garros in Paris, France, meaning it's a clay court event. The draw will run from July 27-Aug. 4.
Without further ado, here is where I see value in the Olympic tennis odds, and I'll deliver my favorite Olympics picks below.
Olympics Tennis Odds, Olympics Picks
Men's: Carlos Alcaraz (+185) · Alexander Zverev (+650)
It’s hard to go against Carlos Alcaraz. You can find him in the market at around +185 before the draw, which doesn't necessarily indicate how good he’s been this summer.
Both the men’s and women’s tennis competitions at the Olympics are being played at Roland Garros, which is, of course, the site of the French Open. These are slow clay courts. This season alone, Alcaraz has already won the French Open. He’s gone 12-3 on clay and 33-6 overall.
He owns a 138-34 record on clay in his career, good for an 80% win rate. That is insane.
If you’re looking for someone with a little more enticing odds or someone who might not be as well-known outside of the tennis world, you can look at Alcaraz’s opponent in that French Open final, Alexander Zverev, at +650.
He’s super solid from the baseline. Zverev is going to make his opponent work for everything. He's gone 16-4 on clay this season alone, and he's 189-84 on clay in his career — good for a 69% win rate.
Zverev is a hardened clay-courter who took Alcaraz to five sets in the French Open. If Alcaraz goes out early, he’s someone I think I can trust to get the job done.
Women's: Iga Swiatek (-195)
If you follow tennis right now, you know that you have to look at Iga Swiatek of Poland.
Right now before the draw, she’s around -195 to win the gold medal, and you might look at that and think that’s quite a steep price to pay for a pre-tournament wager.
But I’m here to tell you that it should probably even be a little bigger than that.
Swiatek has won the French Open four out of the last five years, including the last three. She lost one total set at the French Open this year, and that was to Naomi Osaka — and it honestly seemed like a bit of a fluky match.
She just wasn't challenged. She's that good on clay. With her heavy forehand, ability to move on the surface, pinpoint serve, rally tolerance and placement around the court, she can put up a spectacular performance.
For her career, she’s 132-17 on clay. This season, she's 21-1, having won in Madrid, Rome and Roland-Garros.
Just to give the people a longer shot: let’s say she sprains her ankle or something. That’s the only way I see her losing. So, who can I grab that isn’t Swiatek if I don’t want to bet a -195 favorite before the tournament?
The one name I would say is Coco Gauff at +650. I’m sure a lot of Americans are familiar with her and looking to display some patriotism. I wouldn’t unless it’s something small.
She has a very good backhand, but her forehand is poor, which makes it all the more impressive that she climbed as high as the No. 2 ranking in the world.
At +650, she would still be the clear favorite in my mind if Swiatek couldn’t finish the tournament.
All that said, Swiatek is the favorite for a reason. I really think she’s playable all the way down to around -250.
