French Open Women's Betting: Trio capable of stopping Serena Williams

Could Li or Halep challenge Serena's dominance in Paris?

As the world's biggest names arrive in the French capital, Abelson Info consider which top seeds are in with a chance of holding the Suzanne Lenglen Cup aloft in a fortnight's time...

Defending champion and world number one Serena Williams is unsurprisingly the tournament favourite at Roland Garros, and given her recent results it will take something special from her rivals to deny her further success.

The American top seed is available at 2.285/4, and aside from a minor injury scare two weeks ago in Rome, she's been in ominous form and claimed the title in Madrid most recently.

In addition, she has made no secret of her love for clay after winning 53 of 55 matches on it in the last three years, although her shock first round exit to Virginie Razzano in this tournament in 2012 will serve as a reminder of how things can go very wrong.

However, it is unlikely that she will make the same mistakes again, just as she proved last year, and you can be confident that she will be around in the latter stages to defend her crown against her biggest rivals.

Williams insists she now takes it "one match at a time" and draws on her experience to guard against complacency, and while she claims that the pressure is off having already missed out on the first Grand Glam of the year, she is going to be her usual threat in Paris.

Nevertheless, stranger things have happened and to ignore some of the other top stars would be a risk when looking at the draw.

Victoria Azarenka is absent again with her on-going injury woes, and while Maria Sharapova is in impressive form on this surface, she is in the top half of the draw along with Williams.

Given her terrible head-to-head record with the American, it is difficult to see how the seventh seed would come through a potential quarter-final clash and so she may well be worth avoiding in the tournament winner market at 7.26/1.

As a result, attention should switch to the bottom half of the draw, where you have three genuine contenders that are in relatively good form and have experience of dealing with big matches.

Champion back in 2011, Li Na has a favourable enough route to the business end of the tournament beyond a tricky opener against Kristina Mladenovic, and she has proven that she has the pedigree and all-round game on clay to make an impression.

The same can be said of Simona Halep who has now established herself as the fourth seed, and while there are some possibly difficult matches ahead for the Romanian ace, you would expect her to be able to come through.

Looking across the remainder of the field, there aren't many names that spring out who have the consistency to go with the aggressiveness required to go up against the likes of Williams and Na to prevail, but former champion Ana Ivanovic has proven this year she can at least trouble them.

In terms of value, Na could well be the one to stand in Williams' way when it comes to the crunch.

Recommended Bets:
Back Li Na to win the French Open 2014 @ 7.413/2
Back Simona Halep to win the French Open @ 17.5n/a