Rafael Nadal of Spain hits a return to Novak Djokovic of Serbia during their men's singles final match at the Rome Masters tennis tournament May 18, 2014.
Rafael Nadal of Spain hits a return to Novak Djokovic of Serbia during their men's singles final match at the Rome Masters tennis tournament May 18, 2014. REUTERS

Not surprisingly the World No. 1 and No. 2 are the runaway favourites at the 2014 French Open scheduled from May 25 to June 6.

Rafael Nadal of Spain and Novak Djokovic of Serbia have odds of 2.30 and 2.60, respectively to win the second Grand Slam title of the ATP Season. Both figures dwarf the other players’ chances to win this clay court championship with the nearest competitor—Stanislas Wawrinka, the surprise winner at the 2014 Australian Open—pegged at 11.00.

But as Wawrinka has proven in Melbourne, betting odds mean nothing for players who want to prove themselves they belong at the top of the ATP circuit.

Sure, the tennis world, particularly the majors, have been dominated by the usual big names—Nadal, Djokovic and Roger Federer—in recent years but that’s not stopping hopefuls of using their “one-time” in upsetting these tennis greats.

Since 2004, only five players not named Nadal, Djokovic and Federer have won a Grand Slam!

Stanislas Wawrinka – Australian Open 2014
Andy Murray – Wimbledon 2013, US Open 2012
Juan Martin del Potro – US Open 2009
Marat Safin – Australian Open 2005
Gaston Gaudio – French Open 2004

The Other Swiss (Federer is, the Swiss) beat Nadal, 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in the Aussie Open Final beating the odds and winning as a 54.0 underdog.

For those uninitiated in sports betting, that meant that a $100 wager on Wawrinka would have netted a $5,400 payout. The simple formula is: X (Amount of Bet) times Betting Odds = Payout

So betting $100 on either Nadal or Djokovic will get a relatively low payout of $230 (or $130 winnnings) or $260 ($160).

To Win 2014 French Open (Top 15)
 Rafael Nadal (2.30)
Novak Djokovic (2.60)
Stanislas Wawrinka (11.00)
David Ferrer (21.00)
Roger Federer (23.00)
Andy Murray (26.00)
Kei Nishikori (34.00)
Tomas Berdych (67.00)
Grigor Dimitrov (76.00)
Milos Raonic (81.00)
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (81.00)
Ernests Gulbis (101.00)
Fabio Fognini (126.00)
Nicolas Almagro (176.00)
Alexandr Dolgopolov (201.00)

Can anyone upset Nadal or Djokovic (or even more rare, both) in claycourt classic in Paris, France? Will one do a Wawrinka (or a del Potro, Murray, Safin, Gaudio) and pull-off the improbable upset?