French Open Women's Betting: Stephens to blitz her way to next round

Will Stephens advance at Roland Garros?

The big names are tumbling out of the French Open 2014 and Abelson Info look at whether or not there are more shocks on the way...

After second seed Li Na crashed out on Tuesday, the Williams sisters followed her out of Paris yesterday which leaves the tournament wide open for the remainder of the field to take advantage.

Despite shrugging off any injury concerns and picking up another title in Rome in her preparations, Serena Williams was unable to cope with a stunning display from Garbine Muguruza who continues to live up to her tag as a 'rising star'.

As a result, the likes of Maria Sharapova will look at the draw with renewed optimism as she will no longer have to go through her American rival in order to reach the latter stages of the tournament.

Nevertheless, the second round matches conclude on Thursday and although on paper it looks as though the top seeds should all be capable of advancing, the last two days will serve as a reminder to guard against complacency.

Staying with the trend of shocks and upsets, one star to look out for is Camila Giorgi, who on her day can cause all sorts of problems for her rivals.

She is a significant outsider against the 2009 champion, Svetlana Kuznetsova, but the young Italian will relish the prospect of taking her on and could enjoy some success.

In contrast, it looks bleak for British hope Heather Watson, as despite her recent good form, she has the ominous-looking task of stopping fourth seed Simona Halep.

The Romanian star is one of our tournament tips, and while anything is possible based on the evidence of the past two days, we expect her to prevail along with our other tip, Ana Ivanovic, who will look to make it four straight wins over Elina Svitolina.

However, in terms of value bets, we're taking a closer look at Sloane Stephens coming through her test against Polona Hercog, after seemingly dusting off her troubles in the last round against Shuai Peng, against whom she has struggled in the past.

The American should take confidence from that and appeared to be playing a consistent level of tennis, and as a result, she is more than capable of progressing.

The same theory could also apply to Kirsten Flipkens, with the Belgian arriving in the French capital really struggling to find any sort of form. However, she breezed through with some really favourable odds in the opening round, and that could stand her in good stead moving forward.

It is also worth keeping an eye on Li's conqueror, Kristina Mladenovic, as although her confidence will be sky high, we envisage Alison Riske giving her a decent work-out.

Recommended Bets

Back Stephens to beat Hercog @ 2.01/1
Back Giorgi to beat Kuznetsova @ 3.412/5