Elena Rybakina is on fire ahead of 2024’s second Grand Slam, the French Open, which begins at Roland-Garros in Paris on May 20. The 24-year-old Kazakhstani world number four’s confidence is high after claiming her third title this season at the Stuttgart Open.
Besides Rybakina’s personal confidence levels, the odds on offer by the top offshore sportsbooks included in this guide suggest the bookies also have faith in her French Open chances. Although not the favorite among the sportsbooks, the Moscow-born player still ranks highly among the potential women winners at Roland-Garros.
Let’s look at Elena Rybakina’s results this year after comparing her French Open odds and, hence her chances, to the other top candidates displayed on the offshore betting boards.
2024 French Open Women’s Favorites
Despite Elena Rybakina’s good form, the long-time world number one, Poland’s Iga Swiatek, holds the favorite mantle among the included online bookmakers. Swiatek has spent 100 weeks at the top of women’s tennis and has won two tournaments in 2024. Her first was at the Qatar Open in February, where she beat Rybakina 7-6, 6-2 to take home the trophy.
With odds of +100, 22-year-old Swiatek will also be the top seed at Roland-Garros when the seedings get announced shortly and appears like the player to beat, having won the title in 2022 and 2023. Rybakina beat Swiatek 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in the Stuttgart Open semi-final and holds a winning 4-2 career record against the Pole, so another Grand Slam victory for the twice-defending champion is not guaranteed.
Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus will likely go into the year’s second Grand Slam as the number two seed although, depending on upcoming tournament results, American Cori Gauff could steal the seeding from her before the announcement. Less than 600 ranking points separate the two, but the bookies make the 25-year-old two-time Grand Slam-winning Belarussian a firm second-favorite for the French Open at odds of +600.
Gauff’s odds, in turn, are +900 for the Grand Slam win which, if achieved, would be her second after she won the US Open at Flushing Meadow last year. With Sabalenka having defended her 2023 Australian Open at the season’s first Grand Slam, these two young tennis stars are justifiably among the names mentioned for 2024 French Open glory.
25-year-old Sabalenka holds a 5-3 career head-to-head advantage over Elena Rybakina, while the 20-year-old Gauff beat the Khazak in three tough sets in their only meeting, although that happened back in 2022. With Rybakina’s odds for the French Open at +1100, there is little to choose between the top four in the world rankings, or on the betting boards.
Rybakina’s 2024 Record
Elena Rybakina has started 2024 like an express train, winning titles at the season-opening Brisbane International in Australia where she demolished Sabalenka 6–0, 6–3, the Abu Dhabi Open in the United Arab Emirates, and most recently in Stuttgart in Germany.
Having reached two other tournament finals, including her loss to Swiatek in Dubai, and a 26-4 win record this season, the 2022 Wimbledon champion is on course for the best year of her career, but only winning a 2024 Grand Slam title will cement this.
A poor performance in losing to the unheralded 57th-ranked Russian, Anna Blinkova, in the Australian Open second round means she has three chances left to make this happen.
“I Always Believe in Myself”
One of the favorites
Following her 6-2, 6-2 win over Marta Kostyuk to win the WTA 500 Stuttgart Open tournament, Rybakina spoke to reporters about her form and chances of Grand Slam success in 2024.
“I’m really happy with all the matches I played here throughout the week, especially in the final. [It] Was very solid from me,” she said. “I think just the consistency, of course, and how I’m managing to play all these tournaments till the end, because it’s really tough with the schedule which we have, with all the jet lags and changes of the surface.
It’s been a lot of matches, and I’m happy that for now, I’m managing to fight through all these tough matches and be able to be in the finals.”
The WTA’s form player went on to speak about her confidence and ability to add another Grand Slam title in 2024.
“I always believe in myself, of course, but it not only depends on me. There [are] a lot of great players, tough opponents. But I know if I feel fresh, if I’m physically ready, healthy, I’m playing my game, of course, I have all the chances to win [a] Grand Slam on any surface.”
Although Rybakina is full of belief as the French Open approaches, the words of her biggest rival for the upcoming Grand Slam title carry even more weight. Iga Swiatek, after losing a titanic battle with Rybakina in Stuttgart’s semi-final, said of her opponent, “She had struggles with some injury, but every time she’s healthy she is playing well.”
If Elena Rybakina maintains her self-belief, great form, and fitness, there is every reason she could be holding the French Open trophy aloft after the women’s singles final at Roland-Garros on 8 June.
