French Open Women's Betting: Watson looking to maintain momentum

Watson hoping to build on recent form...

The first round is reaching a conclusion in Paris, and Abelson Info discuss the remaining encounters after a rain interrupted Monday...

Despite the schedule becoming a little hectic due to the weather, the big names continue to grace Roland Garros on Tuesday with second seed Na Li headlining.

The 2011 champion gets her tournament underway with a tricky looking encounter with Kristina Mladenovic, and while the French starlet lost at this very venue to her rival back in 2010, she has made significant strides since then.

Nevertheless, Li will be confident in her ability to avoid any early slip-ups as she looks to add to the Australian Open she won at the start of the year.

All three of our pre-tournament tips are in action on Tuesday, as both Simona Halep and Ana Ivanovic get their campaign going against Alisa Kleybanova and Caroline Garcia respectively.

While we do expect Halep to have recovered from injury and to come through without too many problems, particularly considering she has beaten her opponent in straight sets on two previous occasions, Ivanovic might find life a little trickier against another rising star on the circuit.

Garcia is now ranked the world number 43 at the age of just 20, and backed by a noisy Parisian crowd, she will be dangerous if she can build some early momentum and put pressure on her Serbian rival.

However, looking elsewhere there is value to be had as Sloane Stephens faces a tough obstacle if she harbours hopes of making the second round.

The young American takes on Shuai Peng in her opener, and their head-to-head record doesn't make for comfortable viewing as she has lost both of their previous matches, both on clay and both in straight sets.

It spells trouble for the 15th seed, and Peng is arguably worth an investment as she is marginally listed as the outsider for the clash.

Also in action on Tuesday is British star Heather Watson, and although she has dropped down to the ITF circuit in her preparations, she did pick up a tournament win in Prague a fortnight ago which will give her confidence after coming through qualifying.

As a result, given her good form on this surface heading to Paris, she will fancy her chances of levelling her head-to-head record with Barbora Zahlavova Strycova at one win apiece and it is a completely different story to her time here last year.

Another top seed is also expected to have a difficult time on Tuesday, with Kirsten Flipkens arriving in Paris off the back of four consecutive first round tournament losses.

In contrast, her opponent, Danka Kovinic, is in good form after lifting an ITF trophy, but given the Belgian's odds, it could be worth backing her to rise to the occasion.

Recommended Bets:

Back Watson to beat Zahlavova Strycova 2-0 @ 1.9420/21
Back Under 20.5 Games in Stephens-Peng @ 2.0811/10
Back Flipkens to beat Kovinic @ 2.8815/8