If there were doubts swirling in the minds of tennis fans about the form of Serena Williams, then the World No. 1 dispelled them with a confidence-boosting performance at Rome last week. The hunger and motivation looked strong as ever and it definitely makes her the unanimous favourite to lay her hands on a fourth trophy in Paris.
However, the 34-year-old has not tasted Slam glory since winning the 2015 Wimbledon title and inexplicably faltered at New York and Melbourne. Is there anyone in the draw who can thwart the legend once again? We make an in-depth analysis of the women’s singles draw:
First quarter:
Top seed Serena Williams faces a stern test in her quest to raise the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen for the fourth time. She starts against the 76th ranked Magdalena Rybarikova and then after a duel with the big-serving Kristyna Pliskova, she can come face-to-face with either the 26th Kristina Mladenovic or the fast-improving Timea Babos.
Mladenovc can blow hot and cold but certainly knows a thing or two about rising to the challenge in front of her adoring home crowd. It was here that she upended the former champion Li Na in 2014. Her former doubles partner Babos has been performing consistently this year and reached the Rabat semi-finals.
However, none has the mental fortitude to outshine Serena if she remains fit and healthy.
Former champion Ana Ivanovic or the resurgent Sorana Cirstea would be the 21-time Major winner’s likely opponent in the fourth round after which the road gets steeper for her. Fifth seed Victoria Azarenka, 12th seed Carla Suarez Navarro and 22nd seed Dominika Cibulkova are all packed in the bottom half of Serena’s quarter, each of whom can meet the World No. 1 in the last-eight.
Azarenka should be given the edge considering her experience and on-court ferocity. But her back injury, which forced her out of Madrid, remains a concern even though she has insisted that she is practising pain-free in Paris. Former quarter-finalist Cibulkova could be the Belarusian’s biggest pre-quarter-final danger especially after the Slovak reached the Madrid final.
Azarenka could definitely present a spot of bother to Serena given how she threatened to topple the American last year in an enthralling three-set third round match. No matter how tough her path is, Serena looks focused enough to do well in Paris as indicated by her Rome triumph.
Semi-finalist: Serena Williams
First-round matches to watch: Francesca Schiavone vs Kristina Mladenovic, Elina Svitolina vs Sorana Cirstea, Andrea Petkovic vs Laura Robson
Second quarter:
Third seed and Australian Open titlist Angelique Kerber heads this section of the draw but has her task cut out if she wants to continue her Slam success. She begins her challenge against the Nuremberg champion Kiki Bertens but looks doomed for a potential upset at the hands of the very talented Daria Kasatkina in the third round. The 19-year-old Russian has been one of the young guns to watch this season and has reached three quarter-finals or better already in 2016.
The southpaw, on the other hand, has been pretty inconsistent since her Major win in January. She did defend her Stuttgart title but early exits at Madrid and Rome do not present a confident picture of the German No. 1.
This quarter of the draw is dotted with young starlets who can impress. 15th seed Madison Keys, who reached the Rome final, can square off against the Madrid quarter-finalist Daria Gavrilova in the second round and that can be one fascinating encounter. 20-year-old Louisa Chirico will look to make the most of her dazzling Madrid semi-final run and can stop the ninth seed Venus Williams in the second round.
It could all benefit the eighth-seeded Timea Bacsinszky. The Swiss, who won the Rabat title, is primed for a repeat of a Paris semi-final run. But before that, she needs to overcome the obstacle of the former semi-finalist Eugenie Bouchard or the Stuttgart runner-up Laura Siegemund in Round 2.
Semi-finalist: Timea Bacsinszky
First-round matches to watch: Eugenie Bouchard vs Laura Siegemund, Donna Vekic vs Madison Keys, Johanna Konta vs Julia Georges, Daria Kasatkina vs Anna-Lena Friedsam
Third quarter:
Garbine Muguruza couldn’t have returned to form at a better time and should look to make the semi-finals from this part. After enduring a tough start to the season, she sparkled at Rome en route to reaching the last-four. She has the 37th ranked Anna Karolina Schmiedlova in the opening round, followed by Christina McHale and Ekaterina Makarova. McHale did manage to beat Muguruza this year when the Spaniard was struggling to find her rhythm but this time, she should come through.
The only legitimate pre-quarter-final threat for the Spaniard can come from the 2009 winner Svetlana Kuznetsova. The two met last year at Madrid where the Russian inflicted a three-set defeat which Muguruza is capable of avenging this time.
The fourth seed’s quarter-final opponent choices are plentiful with the seventh seed Roberta Vinci, 10th seed Petra Kvitova, 17th seed Karolina Pliskova and 25th seed Irina-Camelia Begu all clubbed in the same section. Muguruza lost to both Kvitova and the in-form Begu this season so she definitely needs to be wary of both of them.
Having said that, Kvitova is well-known for her inconsistencies and Begu can suffer from pressure of expectations having never made it past the fourth round at any Slam. And all that could favour Muguruza, a two-time quarter-finalist at Roland Garros.
Semi-finalist: Garbine Muguruza
First-round matches to watch: Irina-Camelia Begu vs Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Petra Kvitova vs Danka Kovinic, Svetlana Kuznetsova vs Yaroslava Shvedova
Fourth quarter:
Second seed Agnieszka Radwanska and sixth seed Simona Halep are the two highest seeds in this section. While for Halep clay is her best surface, for Radwanska clay is her Achilles Heel. Only one quarter-final has come in nine tries for the Pole and this time too, her draw does not look too promising. She has the dangerous Bojana Jovanovski in her opener followed by Strasbourg finalist Caroline Garcia or Czech veteran Barbora Strycova, each of whom can dash her hopes.
2014 French Open runner-up Halep, in contrast, is coming to Paris on the back of winning the Madrid title. She finally looked to have sorted out the problems plaguing her in the early part of the year. However, the Romanian does have some major threats in her path from the likes of the 11th seed Lucie Safarova, 21st seed Samantha Stosur, 32nd seed Jelena Ostapenko, 19th seed Sloane Stephens and her nemesis Mirjana Lucic-Baroni.
The latter sent her packing in the second round last year and Halep would very much prefer facing the 18-year-old Ostapenko in the third round instead of her. 2015 runner-up Safarova, who had a torrid time because of her health, has been slowly getting back her confidence and she vindicated it by winning in Prague. But she has to contend with former finalist Stosur before she can face Halep in the Round of 16.
Stephens, who won three titles this year, is a likely quarter-final candidate for the Romanian. If Simona can replicate the aggression and the calmness that she showed at the Spanish capital, there is no reason why she cannot find herself in the last-four.
Semi-finalist: Simona Halep
First-round matches to watch: Agnieszka Radwanska vs Bojana Jovanovski, Samantha Stosur vs Misaki Doi, Jelena Ostapenko vs Naomi Osaka, Daniela Hantuchova vs Mirjana Lucic-Baroni
Semi-finals: Serena def Bacsinszky, Muguruza def Halep
Final: Serena def Muguruza
Is Serena Williams a Jehovah's Witness? Why American legend doesn't celebrate birthdays or Christmas
