Tennis Betting Tips: A pair of 3/1 picks from round three of the French Open

I'm three-for-three this week, having backed Solana Sierra to beat Jasmine Paolini (15/8), Over 17.5 Total Games between Magda Linette and Iga Swiatek (6/5), and Sorana Cirstea to triumph 2-0 over Sierra (5/6).

Attempting to make it five wins from five, I head to the men's singles at Roland-Garros on Saturday, looking to land a couple of 3/1 selections in the third round. Read on for my Tennis Betting Tips for Saturday 30 May...

Set Betting - Flavio Cobolli 3-1 vs Learner Tien @ 3/1

Hopes weren't particularly high for Learner Tien heading into the clay-court swing, but the 20-year-old has exceeded expectations, notably beating Alexander Bublik 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 in Rome before overcoming the same opponent 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 en route to lifting the Geneva Open title last week.

The No. 3 American has performed terrifically across the first couple of rounds at Roland-Garros, too, especially in his opening match against Cristian Garin, beating the Chilean 6-0, 2-6, 6-0, 6-2 before showing great resilience in a 7-5, 4-6, 3-6, 7-6, 6-3 second-round victory over Facundo Diaz Acosta.

It’s never wise to discount Tien entirely, but I do think Saturday will be the end of the road for him as he comes up against a clay-court specialist in Flavio Cobolli, who has coasted to the third round.

The 24-year-old has beaten fellow Italian Andrea Pellegrino (6-4, 7-6, 6-3) and Chinese No. 1 Yibing Wu (6-4, 6-4, 6-4) in straight sets, dropping serve just three times across those two matches.

Tien beat Cobolli 6-3, 6-2 in their only previous meeting, at the Beijing Open last September, but that was on the American’s preferred surface (hard), and the Italian is much more at home on European clay.

Back Tien to make the contest competitive but Cobolli to prevail in four.

Set Betting - Frances Tiafoe 3-1 vs Jaime Faria @ 3/1

Frances Tiafoe’s endurance was tested to the max on Thursday as he was forced to a fifth set by Polish No. 2 Hubert Hurkacz, who fired a whopping 43 aces across four hours and 47 minutes.

It was the American who prevailed, however, 6-7, 7-6, 6-4, 6-7, 6-4, in his longest-ever match on the ATP Tour.

Tiafoe’s route to the third round has been fair from plain sailing, beating countryman Eliot Spizzirri 6-3, 6-7, 6-4, 6-3 in two hours and 59 minutes in the first round on Tuesday.

The 28-year-old will be hoping for an easier time of it in the third round on Saturday, but while I don’t think he will be forced to a fifth set like against Hurkacz, I do believe Portuguese No. 2 Jaime Faria can push him to a fourth.

French Open Odds

Faria has won his opening two matches in straight sets, beating Denis Shapovalov 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 on Tuesday before dispatching Jan-Lennard Struff 7-5, 7-6, 6-2 two days later to reach the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career.

The 22-year-old may pay the price for too much tennis against Tiafoe, though, having played four different tournaments this month and coming through three rounds of qualifiers at Roland-Garros.

Tiafoe, on the other hand, has played just six times since exiting the Houston Open on 4 April; in the same time, Faria has played 21 matches.

The American’s exertions on Thursday should help Faria to secure one set, but I’m backing Tiafoe’s superior quality to shine through in a four-set victory for the 19th seed, who is ranked 22nd in the world, 87 places higher than his next opponent.

Find more Tennis Betting Tips here at Betfred Insights