French Open: Top 5 contenders for the women’s singles title

Paris is once again decked up as its biggest tennis festival has arrived. There’s feverish excitement all around to see who will reign supreme at the French Open two weeks from now.

Undoubtedly, the World No. 1 and defending champion Serena Williams is the hot favourite yet again. Who can be her biggest challengers? We present the top five contenders for the women’s singles title:

#1 Serena Williams

World No. 1 Serena Williams endured one of her longest barren starts to the season as she took five months to win her first title of 2016. But now with her fourth crown in Rome, the 34-year-old is relaxed, hungry and is looking every bit the unanimous favourite in Paris. And that can be a recipe for disaster for the other French Open contenders.

With two-time winner Maria Sharapova’s suspension, the list of women who can realistically win the trophy is scanty. And with Serena back on track and looking doubly motivated to end her Slam drought, it won’t be unreasonable to envisage her with her 22nd Major at this very venue in a few days’ time.

However, there’s a record that Serena needs to be wary of. Every time that she went on to capture the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen, she has never managed to defend it successfully the next year. In 2003, she fell to eventual champion Justine Henin in an infamous semi-final while in 2014, she slumped to an incredibly one-sided defeat to Garbine Muguruza in the second round. This time though with more experience and much less pressure, she could be far less stressed out in pursuit of glory.

2016 Draw: She does have her fair share of hurdles if she wants to grab her fourth title. There is danger in the form of Victoria Azarenka in the quarter-finals and Angelique Kerber in the semi-finals.

French Open performance:

Best result: Champion (2002, 2013, 2015)

Last year: Champion

#2 Angelique Kerber

The winner of the season’s opening Major can never be counted out heading into the French Open. At the Australian Open, Angelique Kerber turned over a new leaf. Exuding oodles of poise and determination, she toppled the two top favourites – Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka – to claim her maiden Slam title.

Gone was her fragile, brittle mental toughness and she was ready to take on the world.

However, the months following such a momentous feat have predictably been tough to follow up to. After being in the wilderness, it was at the Miami Open that she started shining once again where she reached the semi-finals.

She carried on that form to the opening claycourt events this year and made it to the last-four at Charleston and successfully defended her indoor title at Stuttgart.

However, her performance graph suffered a dip once more when the Tour made its outdoor claycourt stops at Madrid and Rome. She made opening round exits at both and that makes it an even bigger challenge for her at the Slam where she has produced the worst results out of the four.

The only time the southpaw made the quarter-finals in Paris was four years back in 2012 and last year she fell in the third round.

If the German No. 1 can summon the conviction with which she played at Melbourne this year, then this is not an entirely unreachable target for her. However, the weather too has to cooperate as Kerber comes up with her best on the faster clay.

2016 Draw: Put in the same half as Serena and Azarenka, the German needs to lift her performance several notches higher to counter either of them in the semi-finals. But before that, last year’s semi-finalist Timea Bacsinszky can test her in the quarters.

French Open performance:

Best result: Quarter-finals

Last year: Third round

#3 Garbine Muguruza

Garbine Muguruza

Her free-flowing fast-paced groundstrokes might be tailor-made for the grass but World No. 4 Garbine Muguruza does have two quarter-final runs in Paris. The first of these impressive performances came two years back when she shocked the tennis world by handing a straight-sets defeat to Serena.

The Spanish No. 1 did back it up with another last-eight finish in 2015. The 22-year-old is blessed with fine movement on the court and can be at her devastating best when she is thinking clearly.

Her clarity of thoughts went missing in the early part of the season when she clearly reeled under the pressure after a stellar 2015. She failed to reach a single semi-final until the Italian Open last week.

Her revival definitely could not have come at a better time. At Rome, she showed all the facets of her game that can make her a dangerous opponent any day. If the Spaniard can play with the same calmness at Roland Garros, she is a player nobody would like to face.

2016 Draw: She is in the bottom half of the draw and has Petra Kvitova in her quarter while Simona Halep or Agnieszka Radwanska will be her likely opponent in the semis.

French Open performance:

Best result: Quarter-finals

Last year: Quarter-finals

#4 Simona Halep

Simona Halep is the only player other than Serena on this list who has got a taste of playing a final in Paris. In her breakthrough Slam performance in 2014, the Romanian had gained quite a few fans with her court craft, intelligent shot-making and her fabulous movement.

However, pressure to live up to it has been telling. She crashed out in the second round last year in an insipid display. This year, Halep had been particularly struggling at the beginning of the season and even went winless in back-to-back tournaments in February.

It was only in March that she started showing sparks during the North American hardcourt swing. After a minor blip at Stuttgart, her resurgence gathered storm at Madrid where the 24-year-old played to her potential to clinch the title.

Even though she faltered at Rome, her Madrid success should go a long way in boosting her sprits ahead of the French Open.

2016 Draw: While Agnieszka Radwanska is her potential quarter-final rival, Garbine Muguruza in the semis can be quite a tricky challenge.

French Open performance:

Best result: Final

Last year: Second round

#5 Victoria Azarenka

There are two reasons why Victoria Azarenka, despite having a spellbinding first quarter of the season, is the least favourite of the five names on this list for the women’s singles title. First of all, clay is not the forte for this hardcourt queen even though her best result at Roland Garros remains a semi-final appearance.

However, uncertainty about the Belarusian’s chances has got more to do with what transpired over the last few weeks. A dogged back injury hampered her chances this European claycourt swing and she was forced to withdraw before her third round match at Madrid. She did play at Rome but was understandably not at her full strength which contributed to her opening round loss.

The good news, though, is that the World No. 5, by her own admission, has been hitting pain-free at Paris. When Vika stormed through the draws at Indian Wells and Miami in March, she was expected to make a serious push for the year’s second Grand Slam especially after how she took a set off Serena during her third round defeat in 2015.

The injury has definitely pushed her down the order but if she starts feeling good and can get a few matches under her belt, Vika can once again be a force to reckon with.

2016 Draw: Azarenka has been put in the same half as Serena and Kerber. A quarter-final with the top seed looms large and the Belarusian needs to be at her full fitness to have any chance.

French Open performance:

Best result: Semi-finals

Last year: Third round