Roland Garros Expert Tips and Best Bets | May 18

The French Open main draw doesn’t kick off for another seven days, but there is still plenty of action for us to sink our teeth into over the next week in the form of the qualifying rounds. That battle for the final spots at the second major of the year begins today, and these are our best bets for a big day of French Open qualifiers.

It’s not often that you see a name like Grigor Dimitrov playing on the first day of qualifying for an event. The 34-year-old has not had the start to 2026 that he would have like, but it was still just last year that he was a top 50 player in the world, and the year prior that he made it through to the quarter-finals at this very event. Faria, meanwhile, has played at the French Open just once, losing in the first round. There is a huge experience differential here and at close to even money odds on the betting apps, Dimitrov looks like value.

This is an interesting clash between the Czech compatriots, and one in which there appears to be some value. Havlickova showed promise as a young player, winning the French Open junior title in 2022, but she has failed to translate that form to the top level, having not played a single match in the main draw of a Grand Slam and not even competed in the qualifiers since 2023. Fruhvirtova, meanwhile, has been a top-50 ranked player in the world, and has advanced as far as the fourth round in a major. At better than even money odds with most betting sites, she’s one of the best value picks on the board.

David Goffin has had a great career, achieving a ranking of as high as number seven in his heyday, but at 35 years of age those days are well and truly in the rear-view mirror. Goffin has struggled mightily so far in 2026, winning just one of his eight matches and with four of his last five defeats coming in straight sets. Tseng is no world beater, but has enjoyed some success at a couple of tournaments this season, most notably at Rosario in Argentina, where he made the semi-finals – and importantly, that was on clay. These two also met earlier this year at the qualifiers for the Indian Wells, and Tseng promptly won 6-4 6-1.