Roland Garros was a French aviator and a fighter pilot during World War I. He was shot down and killed a month before the end of the war, but his name lives on with the Tournoi de Roland-Garros, known better on these shores as the French Open.

We associate the French Open with its clay courts, but when the first tournament was held in 1891, there was only one kind of tennis: lawn tennis. It wasn’t until 1912 that red clay was first used. And it wasn’t until 1968 that the tournament became a true Open, allowing both amateurs and professionals to compete.

France’s Max Decugis won eight men’s singles titles between 1903 and 1914; Bjorn Borg of Sweden holds the record with six championships during the Open Era. Chris Evert has seven women’s titles on her resume – she didn’t lose a singles match on clay for six years between 1973 and 1979. Now that’s a solid betting trend.

Get your French Open odds here!

Easy on the eye, Maria Sharapova is competing at the French Open

This is the last thing the sport of tennis needed right now. The Daily Mail reported earlier this month that an International Tennis Federation panel has identified 45 matches over the past five years which are “under suspicion” because of unusual betting patterns. The article goes on to raise the alarm by rehashing last year’s Nikolay Davydenko-related scandal and other recent examples of possible match-fixing.

Keep in mind that it’s the Daily Mail we’re talking about here. This is a British tabloid that begs to be made fun of. But over 2.4 million people in the UK read it, and tennis is in the spotlight with the start of the French Open and Wimbledon coming up in June.

In sharp contrast to the Daily Mail, the Guardian handled the story by emphasizing that the ITF found that “professional tennis is neither systematically nor institutionally corrupt.” The Guardian is a respected broadsheet with journalistic integrity – and a great sports section.

With the French Open in full swing, it’s still good clean fun to bet on tennis.

Last month, tennis legend and commentator John McEnroe expressed his fears that the Russian mafia may be corrupting the sport. Actually, the U.S. Senate drew the same conclusion over a decade ago after a 15-month investigation. But fresh betting scandals have prompted McEnroe to speak and governing bodies to take action.

Last week, the ATP, WTA and ITF joined forces with the organizers of the four major tournaments to announce a review of their policies. “(This) independent review will help us ensure we are protecting the integrity of professional tennis into the future,” WTA Tour chief executive Larry Scott told reporters.

Whether anything more can be done, or whether the review merely pays lip service, remains to be seen. According to Scott, we may see the establishment of an anti-corruption unit with policing powers. But if the problem is organized crime, do you really want to send in the tennis police?

Sometimes it’s too much work just to get out of bed, let alone do the research required to make a sharp bet. That’s when you decide to risk a mouthful of chalk and go for the easy button. It won’t get any easier in 2008 than betting on these 10 guaranteed locks (Note: not a guarantee).

USC over Illinois (straight up) at the Rose Bowl
The New England Patriots to win the Super Bowl
Tiger Woods to win the WGC-CA Championship
Justine Henin to win the French Open
Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony’s first child (1-3) to be born with brown eyes
Germany (8-13) to win Euro 2008 Group B
Australia (-200) over England at The Ashes 2009
Ken Livingstone (1-2) to win the London mayoral election
Ronnie O’Sullivan (3-1) to win the World Snooker Championship
Kanye West’s Graduation (1-5) to win the Grammy for Rap Album of the Year

Tennis is a simple sport; no giant playbooks, no 53-man rosters, no subjective officiating. But handicappers are more than aware about the darker side of tennis.

Four years ago, online gamblers had a less peaceful summer than usual. 2000 Olympic gold medallist Yevgeny Kafelnikov faced Fernando Vicente at the Lyon Grand Prix; betting on that matchup was suspended after heavy action came in on Vicente. The low-ranked Spaniard won in straight sets.

Here we are again. The No. 4 player on the men’s circuit, Nikolay Davydenko, is under scrutiny after withdrawing from last month’s Poland Open matchup against Martin Vassallo Arguello. Davydenko won the first set 6-2; Betfair says an unusual amount of money came in at that point for the Russian to lose. Arguello won the second set 6-3, then Davydenko withdrew while leading 2-1 in the third.

Betfair voided all the wagers on that matchup – reportedly over US$6.8 million. Stay tuned.