French Open: Men's final betting preview and tips ahead of final day at Roland Garros

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1pt double Nadal to beat Thiem & Babos/Mladenovic to win at 4/7

Dominic Thiem v Rafael Nadal

The two best clay-courters on the tour do battle again in the men's final at Roland Garros. Three times the pride of Austria, Dominic Thiem, has faced the Pearl of Manacor, Rafael Nadal, at Roland Garros, with the net result nine sets and 54 games to Nadal, zero sets and 23 games to Thiem.

While it's understandable to dismiss their first encounter, back in 2014 when Thiem was ranked 57 in the world, but in the 2017 semi and 2018 final, he was a fully-fledged member of the top 10. The task he faces here is as big as any in the sport.

There's precious little to add about Nadal. It was ridiculous that he achieved seven titles here, then eight, nine, 10... now he lines up for a surely unsurpassed 12th men's singles title. He has lost to Thiem before, four times in fact (from a dozen clashes, all bar one on clay), but every time they have faced each other here, over five sets, Nadal has simply found another level.

Some scribes will highlight Thiem will be on court for his fourth day in a row, after rain delays forced his quarter-final to move to Thursday, followed by the five-set win over Djokovic spanning Friday and Saturday. Fatigue is not something though that seems to bother Thiem. He plays a very heavy schedule, averaging a tournament every two weeks since he fully joined the ATP Tour in 2014.

While the Djokovic win took over four hours, it was split over two days, making it similar length to regular matches, and his two previous rounds were over in under two hours. It's a non-issue and there are greater concerns here, namely that he faces an opponent who is the nearest thing to unbeatable we've seen under these conditions.

For the future of the sport, I hope Thiem can step up and make a contest of this match. In 11 previous finals here, Nadal has dropped a mere six sets: three to Roger Federer, two to Novak Djokovic and give-yourself-a-pat-on-the-back if you can name the other one without Googling it.

However, Nadal was the outright tip at the start of the tournament and there's no reason to jump ship now. He will surely win again. Oh, and the answer is Mariano Puerta, back in 2005. Thiem will do well to add his name to this list.

Women's doubles final

The newly-crowned world doubles number one, home favourite Kristina Mladenovic, seeks her second French Open doubles title, and her first with current partner Timea Babos.

This is the third major final in a row for them, on top of winning in Australia in 2018. An exceptional pair, they have lost only one 'full' match this season (the Australian Open Final), with three other defeats coming in match tiebreaks, the abbreviated third set in regular WTA tournaments.

Ying-Ying Duan and Saisai Zheng are seasoned doubles players but this is only the second tournament they have played together - the other one was at ITF level, back in 2012!

They have enjoyed plenty of success separately in regular tour events but in a big final, in front of a partisan home crowd, I'll be siding with the real tournament pedigree to shine through.

The two favourites on the day should continue on their merry way and it should be a straightforward end to the tournament.

Posted at 2240 BST on 08/06/19.