Gross Bombs: NFL Props for Week 16
Josh Gross
Well, we’ve made it to another Grand Slam. After a long two month clay court season, we’ve reached the conclusion in Paris for the French Open. Defending Champion Rafael Nadal will unfortunately miss his first French Open since 2004. Additionally absent on the men’s side includes Matteo Berrettini, Nick Kyrgios, Andy Murray, and 2023 semifinalist Marin Cilic. On the women’s side, Simona Halep, Paula Badosa, Amanda Anisimova, Emma Raducanu, and Ajla Tomljanovic will all miss the event. Iga Swiatek will go for her third Roland Garros title, which would give her the fourth most at Roland Garros in the Open Era. So, let’s dive straight into today’s featured play.
Carlos Alcaraz To Win + Both To Win A Set
(+135, 1.5U , Caesars)
What an excellent quarterfinal we have to wrap up the day in Paris! It’ll be World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, versus World No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas, the 2021 runner-up. This will be the fifth meeting between the two, with Alcaraz having won all four previous meetings, two of which have come on clay, both in Barcelona each of the last two seasons. Simply put, Alcaraz has Tsitsipas’ number, as he is generally the one dictating play, and given how big Alcaraz strikes the ball, Tsitsipas is often rushed. Given how long Tsitsipas’ swing is, that can be problematic. That said, over the best of five format, I believe Tsitsipas is going to find a window where he can take advantage of Alcaraz, as he’s shown cases of a slight lapse throughout his run. Looking through Alcaraz’s draw, he handled Flavio Cobbolli with ease, then dropped a set against Taro Daniel, and there were moments against Denis Shapovalov where Alcaraz’s level dropped, though Shapovalov was unable time and time again to take advantage. In his previous round, Alcaraz found himself down early, seemingly struggling to settle into the first few games, before Musetti coughed up the opening set break and Alcaraz never looked back.
While I believe there’s no doubt Alcaraz advances in this one, I like Tsitsipas’ chances to make this a little more uncomfortable for Alcaraz than their previous few meetings, given the form Tsitsipas has shown dating back to the start of Rome, where he ultimately lost to Daniil Meedvedev, the eventual champion. At +135, I’ll take Alcaraz to win the match, with both players grabbing a set, which can be found under the “Set Bets” tab.
