Tennis Betting Tips: Sabalenka poised to end Swiatek’s reign

The French Open reaches day 12 on Thursday and the women's semi-finals take centre stage as the four remaining competitors battle it out for a place in Saturday's final.

The headline act comes from the top half of the draw, where world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka clashes with four-time and defending champion Iga Swiatek, while French attention will be on surprise package Lois Boisson, who faces Coco Gauff. Read on for Thursday's Tennis Betting Tips.

Aryna Sabalenka to beat Iga Swiatek (French Open) @ 4/5

In previous years, Iga Swiatek would've been favourite for any match she played at Roland Garros, but the Polish player finds herself as the underdog for this semi-final contest against Aryna Sabalenka.

As a four-time winner, Swiatek has the storied French Open past, but she's had a terrible 12 months since she last claimed this title, dropping from top spot to fifth in the world, and failing to claim a trophy at any level.

Back on her favourite surface, and at her favourite tournament, the 24-year-old has looked closer to peak form in recent matches, coming from a set down to beat Elena Rybakina, then blowing Elina Svitolina off the court in Tuesday's quarter-final match.

However, in Sabalenka, she faces a huge mental and physical test against a player who is now the dominant performer on the WTA Tour - a position Swiatek knows all too well.

While the pair have an established rivalry at all levels, which Swiatek leads 8-4, this is only their second Grand Slam meeting - Swiatek won the first at the 2022 US Open.

Since then, Sabalenka has become a more complete, polished competitor on the big stages.

She has also improved significantly as a clay-court player over the last couple of years, and she is likely to prove too strong for an opponent who could unravel if this match begins to head in the wrong direction.

Lois Boisson +5.5 games vs Coco Gauff (French Open) @ 4/5

World number 361 Lois Boisson has become the story of the French Open, reaching the last four as a wildcard, dumping out third-ranked Jessica Pegula and sixth-ranked Mirra Andreeva in her last two matches.

A 1,000/1 shot prior to the tournament, Boisson's run has been nothing short of remarkable, but now she faces an even greater test in the form of American world No.2 Coco Gauff.

A Grand Slam champion and former French Open runner-up, Gauff is an elite competitor who fully deserves to be favourite for this one. But like the big guns who went before her, the 21-year-old Floridian will have to battle both Boisson and the vociferous French crowd.

On what she's achieved in this tournament, it would be wrong to write off Boisson, who has shown mental toughness which defied her current world ranking, coming from a set down to beat Pegula, then battling back time and time again against Andreeva.

This is likely to be the end of the road for the Frenchwoman, but Gauff has been hit-and-miss throughout the French Open fortnight, and that inconsistency could allow the underdog to at least keep this one close.

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