French Open Women's Betting: Wickmayer a difficult task for Wozniacki

Wickmayer can cause an upset against distracted Wozniacki...

The main draw of the French Open 2014 begins on Sunday, and Abelson Info delve into the first round to pick out some potential upsets...

As with every big tournament, the top seeds will be anxious to get off to a strong start in order to deal with their nerves and relieve some of the pressure on them to come through unscathed.

However, that is always likely to result in some shocks and there are a few possible upsets on the cards looking at the opening round of the draw.

Tennis isn't perhaps on the forefront of Caroline Wozniacki's mind at this point, with off-court issues potentially distracting her from performing in the French capital.

Despite her superior head-to-head record against Yanina Wickmayer, the Belgian ace did win their last meeting which was in Doha earlier this year.

In addition, Wozniacki has only featured in one tournament in her build-up for the French Open, with her outing in Madrid her only meaningful preparation where she suffered a round-of-32 loss to Roberta Vinci.

Prior to that, you have to look all the way back to March for her last extended run in a tournament, but that wasn't on clay and as a result she could well be short of match practice to go along with her other problems.

As a result, it is possibly worth investing in Wickmayer to upset the odds and be one of several underdogs to prevail in the opening round.

Elsewhere, while Sam Stosur is still considered a threat in the tournament, she could have her hands full when she takes on the in-form Monica Puig, who is aiming for her first WTA title in Strasbourg.

The Puerto Rican starlet is on the cusp of breaking into the top 50, and while the pair have never met before, this could be a tricky opening encounter for the Australian if she isn't on her game from the off.

Stosur navigated her way through the opening rounds in both Madrid and Rome before falling to top seeds, but there is a risk she could get caught cold with Puig maintaining her momentum.

Meanwhile, the expectation is that Ana Ivanovic is finding her feet again this year and could emerge as a contender in this tournament.

However, she arguably faces one of the more difficult first round clashes when she takes on Caroline Garcia who is fresh from winning her maiden title in Bogota and has played some solid tennis.

While this meeting wouldn't look out of place deeper into the tournament, if Ivanovic is on form then she should come through without any major problems. However, if the occasion and the crowd get to her, it could get uncomfortable for the former champion.

It may well be worth looking elsewhere for another shock of sort, as despite her inferior world ranking, we expect Christina McHale to give Elena Vesnina a tough match and could ultimately prevail.

Recommended Bets

Back Wickmayer to beat Wozniacki @ 3.052/1
Back McHale to beat Vesnina 2-0 @ 2.526/4
Back Puig to beat Stosur @ 2.447/5