Daily Tennis Tips – Thursday 29th May

See below for our expert daily tennis tips and best bets around the courts for Thursday May 29, 2025!

Sixth seed Mirra Andreeva will carry extra motivation into her French Open Round of 64 clash with world No.35 Ashlyn Krueger.

The pair’s only previous meeting was in the second round of last year’s US Open, with Krueger powering to a 6-1 6-4 upset.

Andreeva has become one of the WTA’s genuine big guns since, going on giant-killing runs to win back to back Masters titles in Dubai and Indian Wells.

The 17-year-old’s comparatively modest clay swing improved with a quarter-final run in Rome – losing to Coco Gauff – while she comfortably accounted for Cristina Bucsa in the first round on Tuesday 6-3 6-4. Andreeva reached the semis at Roland Garros last year.

Krueger overwhelmed Suzan Lamens by the same scoreline in the first round – her maiden French Open win. She went 3-4 on the clay swing lead-in, beating Mccartney Kessler last week in Strasbourg before losing to a rejuvenated Beatriz Hadda Maia.

Andreeva’s superiority on clay is hard to overlook here, but the $1.14 favourite will have to work for it against her plucky American opponent.

Former French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova takes on another ex-top-10 star in the shape of Veronika Kudermetova in the second round.

Kudermetova boasts a 3-2 advantage over Krejcikova, including a clay-court victory at last year’s Stuttgart Open. Krejcikova won a French Open qualifier back in 2018, as well as their most recent clash on her way to a surprise Wimbledon triumph, prevailing 7-6 6-7 7-5 in a first-round marathon.

The 2021 French Open winner endured a six-month injury layoff before returning in Strasbourg with a loss to Magda Linette. But the 15th seed put away Tatjana Maria 7-6 6-3 in the first round here.

Kudermetova has slipped to No.46 in the rankings but strung together some good wins to make the last 32 in Madrid and Rome, before overpowering Viktoriya Tomova 7-5 6-1 in the first round at Roland Garros, where she reached the quarter-finals in 2022.

Krejcikova remains a top-flight performer, but her lack of court time is a concern and she looked rusty against Maria. The classy Kudermetova should have the edge here.

Australian ninth seed Alex de Minaur takes on a dangerous second-round opponent in the shape of Alexander Bublik at the French Open.

De Minaur is 3-0 against Bublik, including a clay-court encounter at the 2021 Barcelona Open and another straight-sets victory at the 2024 Indian Wells Masters.

After a solid build-up, ‘Demon’ – who reached the semis at Roland Garros for the first time last year – defeated Laslo Djere 6-3 6-4 7-6 in the first round.

Ranked in the top 20 this time last year, Bublik is currently No.62. But he beat Alexei Popyrin and Andrey Rublev to reach the Madrid Masters Round of 16, before winning a Challenger event in Turin. He dumped Aussie journeyman James Duckworth out in the first round on Tuesday, 6-2 6-4 6-4.

A red-hot $1.10 favourite, de Minaur should find his way through to the last 32, but there may be a bump or two in the road with Bublik boasting some handy momentum.

Evergreen Frenchman Gael Monfils will have the Roland Garros crowd in his corner for a daunting second-round showdown with fifth seed and $1.16 favourite Jack Draper.

Draper announced himself as a top-tier player by winning the Indian Wells Masters and backed that up on clay by reaching the Madrid Masters final and the Rome Masters quarters. The 23-year-old overcame a slow start against Mattia Bellucci in the first round here to win 3-6 6-1 6-4 6-2.

Monfils, meanwhile, had to dig deep to run down Hugo Dellien 4-6 3-6 6-1 7-6 6-1. It represented an all-time record 12th five-set win at the French Open.

The 38-year-old has wound back the clock on hard courts this year to climb to No.42, but his clay swing has been patchy and injury-interrupted.

Draper won their only encounter to date, back at the 2022 Canadian Masters. Monfils was a semi-finalist at his home slam way back in 2008, but it will take something out of the box – which he is still capable of producing – to run Draper close in this one.