Casper Ruud vs. Novak Djokovic Picks, Predictions & Odds for 2023 Men's French Open Final

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10 June 2023

Casper Ruud vs. Novak Djokovic Picks, Predictions & Odds for 2023 Men's French Open Final

Novak Djokovic aims for a record 23rd Grand Slam title when he faces Casper Ruud at Roland Garros on Sunday. Read on for our Ruud vs. Djokovic picks for the 2023 Men's French Open Final.

Casper Ruud dispatched Alexander Zverev in straight sets 6-3, 6-4, 6-0 to reach back-to-back French Open finals. Ruud is now appearing in his third Grand Slam final in the last five Majors and will have to beat the man tied for the most Grand Slam victories to win his maiden title.

Djokovic is appearing in his 34th Grand Slam final, which ties Chris Evert for the most among men and women in the Open Era. This is Djokovic’s seventh French Open final appearance, and a win would make him the first player ever to complete a triple-career Grand Slam. To get here, he avenged last year’s loss in Madrid to world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz and will take over the No. 1 spot in the next ATP rankings with a win on Sunday.

Thus, he's a heavy consensus by the French Open odds for this final match.

Here are our best Casper Ruud vs. Novak Djokovic picks and predictions for the 2023 Men's French Open final (odds via our best sports betting apps; pick confidence based on a 1-to-5-star scale).

Casper Ruud vs. Novak Djokovic odds

(Odds via DraftKings)

Casper Ruud vs. Novak Djokovic pick

Ruud +5.5 games (-110 via DraftKings) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

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At first glance, this line seems too easy to back Djokovic, as he has won all of his previous four head-to-head matches against Ruud by exactly five games in straight sets in best-of-three formats. Thus, if Djokovic were to win this in straight sets, given that history, he would naturally cover the -5.5 games. However, DraftKings has Ruud at -155 odds to win at least one set, which suggests Ruud will draw on past experience and present as a more formidable opponent this time around, even though two of the previous losses to Djokovic were on clay (2020 Rome, 2022 Rome).

Djokovic has an easy claim to the best Men’s tennis player of all time, as he has proven elite on all surfaces. He is the first player to reach the final at every Grand Slam at least seven times. But no one has been better at Roland Garros than Rafael Nadal, and Ruud should be able to draw on the experience of playing the “King of Clay” in last year’s final.

Ruud is often overlooked for not being a member of the Big Three and never having won a Grand Slam. However, since 2020, Ruud has made the semifinals or better in 12 ATP tournaments, and he has proven himself to be just as consistent as the most elite players in the world. Just one of his six set victories in the last two matches against seeded players has seen more than nine games played, so Ruud can make huge strides in covering this game spread with another 6-3 or better set win.

And considering Djokovic is at plus-money odds (+120) to win in straight sets, giving Ruud at least one set in this match should get him to a cover on the game spread. Thus, this is a four-star play as the match should tilt more toward Ruud’s favor the longer it goes, given that Djokovic is the oldest French Open finalist in the Open Era.

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Casper Ruud vs. Novak Djokovic best odds

DraftKings (-120)

There is little difference among our best sports betting sites for this wager, with BetMGM and Caesars being the lone exceptions in charging extra juice for Ruud to cover the spread. All of our best sportsbooks with alternate game spreads offer plus-money odds to Ruud at +4.5 games or lower, even BetMGM, which goes from -120 odds at +5.5 to +120 at +4.5.

Thus, those confident enough that Ruud can be competitive in this match should aim to cash in on the generous alternate game spreads beyond -5.5.