French Open Women's Betting: In-form Puig to trouble Stosur

Stosur could be in trouble in the first round....

It is Day 2 at the French Open 2014 and Abelson Info provide their tips as the first round continues at Roland Garros...

With the majority of the top seeds prevailing on the opening day of the tournament, the action continues with Maria Sharapova amongst those preparing to take to the court.

The Russian star is the seventh seed in this year's French Open and while some will be looking as far ahead as the quarter-finals where she could face Serena Williams, Sharapova will want to avoid any early slip-ups.

She has faced Ksenia Pervak previously, winning their only meeting in straight sets at Roland Garros back in 2010. Given her recent form on clay, there is little to suggest that the result will be any different this time round.

The likes of Petra Kvitova, Sloane Stephens and Sabine Lisicki will all be confident of joining her in the second round, particularly given the fact that they have benefited from a relatively favourable draw to get them started.

As a result, it is worth looking at the remainder of Monday's schedule to identify the value bets and it all starts with Monica Puig who takes on Sam Stosur.

The 20-year-old captured her first WTA title in Strasbourg at the weekend, and her ascent up the world rankings continues as we singled her out in our first round upsets piece.

Given that she still has favourable odds, it is difficult to ignore the temptation of backing her to provide a shock against her established Australian rival.

The youngster became the first Puerto Rican to win a title, but she will need to come out firing in order to put Stosur under pressure and extend what has been a fairytale week.

Elsewhere, we expect some strong performances from the likes of Alize Cornet, Dominika Cibulkova and Jelena Jankovic to come through unscathed, while another young prospect also secured her first title last weekend.

Eugenie Bouchard has received widespread praise in recent years and is proving that she is capable of becoming one of the next biggest stars in the women's game, but she will want to guard against complacency and get straight back to work when she faces Shahar Peer.

The Canadian starlet is a significant favourite to triumph, but look for her to make a splash in the next few rounds when things become a little tougher.

Meanwhile, it also worth keeping an eye on Camila Giorgi who has a tendency to bring her best tennis to the big tournaments, and Bojana Jovanovski will be wary of underestimating her.

Further, the Serbian star has won just two matches across five clay tournaments as part of her preparations for the French Open, and we can envisage a real battle ahead between the pair with Giorgi having a realistic chance of prevailing.

Recommended Bets:

Back Puig to beat Stosur @ 2.6813/8

Back Giorgi to beat Jovanovski 2-1 @ 3.814/5