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
