Tennis Betting Tips: Former French Open finalist backed for shock second-round exit

The second round of this year's French Open is already upon us, and I'm predicting at least a couple of upsets on Day 4.

Below are my Tennis Betting Tips for Wednesday 26 May 2026, featuring a match apiece from the men's and women's singles.

Match Betting - Solana Sierra to beat Jasmine Paolini @ 13/8

Jasmine Paolini is a reigning doubles champion at Roland-Garros, lifting the title last year alongside Sara Errani, and in 2024, she reached the final in the singles, losing 2-6, 1-6 to Iga Swiatek.

However, the 30-year-old has endured a poor start to 2026, and a third-round loss at the Italian Open to 21st seed Elise Mertens last month saw her 101-week run in the world's top 10 come to an end as she dropped to World No. 13.

The Italian overcame Dayana Yastremska in the first round of the French Open on Monday, but it wasn’t smooth sailing against the unseeded Ukrainian as she prevailed 7-5, 6-3, dropping serve twice in the opening set.

Ironically, Paolini’s second-round opponent on Wednesday, Solana Sierra, lost 3-6, 5-7 to Yastremska in the quarter-finals of the Parma Challenger earlier this month, but the Argentine bounced back with a resounding 6-0, 7-6 victory over British No. 1 Emma Raducanu in the first round of the French Open on Sunday.

Sierra also beat Yastremska 7-6, 7-6 in the first round of the Madrid Open last month before dealing with 34th seed Magdalena Frech (6-2, 6-4) and Zeynep Sonmez (0-6, 6-2, 6-3) en route to the last 16, where she was beaten 4-6, 3-6 by former World No. 1 Karolina Pliskova.

The 21-year-old gained further confidence in Rome, upsetting the odds against Anhelina Kalinina (6-2, 6-3) in the second round before taking the opening set off reigning Roland Garros champion Coco Gauff (7-5, 0-6, 4-6) in the third round.

I think this is a match where the underdog could come out on top, with Paolini losing or dropping a set in her first five clay-court appearances of the calendar year before ousting Yastremska on Monday.

She lacks the power of an Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina or a Coco Gauff, meaning that when she isn’t at the top of her game, she can be left exposed, and an up-and-comer like Sierra can take advantage.

Match Betting - Thanasi Kokkinakis to beat Pablo Carreno Busta @ 15/8

I’m predicting another upset here, with World No. 855 Thanasi Kokkinakis backed to beat World No. 89 Pablo Carreno Busta in the men’s singles.

Of course, Kokkinakis is a much better player than his ranking suggests, with the former World No. 65 spending just under a year on the sidelines before making his comeback from a pectoral injury at the Adelaide Open in January, when he came from behind to overcome two-time finalist Sebastian Korda 3-6, 6-3, 7-6.

A shoulder injury would deny the Australian the chance to progress any further in the tournament, and he went nearly four months without playing another match before getting through a couple of qualifiers at the Zagreb Open earlier this month, although he pulled out of the main draw of that Challenger event.

Still, he roared back to action in the first round of Roland-Garros, beating Frenchman Terrence Atmane 6-7, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 and firing a whopping 24 aces.

The 30-year-old showed tremendous resolve and fitness to come out the other end of that contest with the victory, but there will be question marks over his ability to win back-to-back main-draw matches for the first time since last year’s Adelaide Open in January 2025.

French Open Odds

Kokkinakis may be pleased with his second-round opponent, however, with Spanish veteran Carreno Busta shocking 12th seed Jiri Lehecka in straight sets (6-3, 7-6, 6-3) on Monday.

This is, of course, Carreno Busta’s favoured surface, but like Kokkinakis, he carries fitness concerns, retiring at 3-6, 3-4 down to compatriot Pedro Martinez in the Barcelona Open qualifiers on 11 April, and pulling out of his Valencia Challenger quarter-final against another fellow Spaniard, Jaume Munar, on 15 May.

At 34, Carreno Busta is entering the twilight years of his career, and he’ll be keen to make more memories at Roland-Garros, where he quarter-finaled in 2017 and 2020.

However, if Kokkinakis can serve like he did on Monday, this could be a very competitive match indeed.

The Kokkinakis-Sierra double pays out at 6.54/1, if you’re interested.

Find more Tennis Betting Tips here at Betfred Insights