Marin Cilic’s French Open Odds Listed as Long as +10000 After Disappointing Stretch

• Online sportsbooks list Marin Cilic at odds of +10000 to win the French Open
• He was ranked as high as no. 3 in the world early last year
• Cilic has advanced to the quarterfinals in just one tournament in 2019

There was a time when Marin Cilic could run with the big dogs of men’s tennis and not trip up. He won the US Open in 2014. Cilic reached the finals of Wimbledon in 2017 and the Australian Open in 2018.

Over the course of his career, he’s won 18 tour-level titles, and beaten 32 top 10 opponents. In January of last year, the 30-year-old Croat was ranked no. 3 in the world.

2019 French Open Men’s Singles Odds

Odds taken on 05/21/19. Follow the link in the table above for a complete list of all players

Lately, though, it’s all gone off a cliff for Cilic. His best performance of the year so far was reaching the quarterfinals at Madrid. But just when it seemed like he was making some headway, food poisoning felled Cilic and he was forced to make a withdrawal from his match against world no. 1 Novak Djokovic.

All of these missteps have led to the oddsmakers giving Cilic almost no chance of winning the French Open. The French Open odds on Cilic vary from sportsbook to sportsbook. They average out to +6400 across the leading sportsbooks. He was just +3400 a week ago, and as short as +2300 back on Jan. 27.

Online sportsbooks peg him as high as +10000 to win at Roland-Garros.

Paris 🔜 💪🏼 https://t.co/bfbYp3pR1m

— Marin Cilic (@cilic_marin) May 20, 2019

Cilic hasn’t won a tournament in almost a year. He beat Djokovic 5–7, 7–6^(7–4), 6–3 in the Queen’s Club final last June.

Cilic Still Sliding

The lanky 6-foot-6 Croatian is 8-7 in matches on the year. He’s dropped from 10th to 13th in the ATP men’s singles rankings. It’s the first time he’s been outside of the top 10 since October 2016.

He made a first-round exit at Dubai. There were second-round departures at the Italian Open, Monte Carlo and Miami. He was beaten in the third-round at Indian Wells and suffered a fourth-round setback at the Australian Open.

All of these defeats were handed to Cilic by players outside the top 20 rankings. That includes his second-round loss to world no. 76 Andrey Rublev at Miami and his beating by no. 51 Jan-Lennard Struff at the Italian Open.

Even though he reached the quarterfinals in Madrid, Cilic was required to save four match points to get by Slovakian qualifier Martin Klizan 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 in the first round of that tournament.

Injuries have also played a role in his struggles. He’s endured a persistent knee ailment that caused Cilic to take a month off following the Australian Open.

Clay Is Not His Best Play

He’s reached the quarterfinals at Roland-Garros the past two years but clay courts and success don’t generally go hand in hand for Cilic. He’s 24-12 lifetime there in matches.

He likes to play an attacking brand of tennis, and that style doesn’t always meld well with the red clay surface.

Wait for the Green Grass of Wimbledon

If you are considering a play on Cilic at these long odds, we’d advise against it at Roland-Garros. It isn’t merely that Cilic is playing poorly, or that he’s not enjoyed a wealth of success on clay during his career.

https://twitter.com/tennisnewschan1/status/1114603370944266240

There’s also the fact that the wold’s top two players, Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, are playing lights-out tennis right now.

We suggest you follow Cilic’s progress over the next month and wait until Wimbledon. He’s made three quarterfinals and one finals appearance on the grass there over the past five years.