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French Open: A Look At The Women’s Top 8

By Jake Fletcher

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French Open: Can anyone stop Serena hitting 20?

The French Open gets underway tomorrow! All of the top players will be hoping that the past couple of months on the clay will have prepared them, both physically and mentally to win the second Grand Slam event of the year.

Can Serena Williams become only the 3rd woman EVER to win a 20th Grand Slam singles title?

Can Maria Sharapova win a 3rd title in the last 4 in Paris?

Will Simona Halep win her 1st Grand Slam title, one year on from losing the final here?

All of these questions will be answered over the next fortnight!

Here’s a look at the top 8 seeds and whether I think they’ll reach the quarters!

(Seed)

(1) Serena Williams

Serena is a definite favourite for the title, considering her added motivation to win a 20th Grand Slam singles title! She’s won this event twice before (2002 and 2013) and is unbeatable at her best! However, the worrying point for Williams is that she isn’t at her best! After her 27 match, unbeaten run for the season ended at the hands of Kvitova in the semis of Madrid, Serena was forced to withdraw before the 3rd round in Rome with an elbow injury. Though she claims to be better, Williams will no doubt be concerned about her lack of preparation going into the early rounds, considering she has suffered some disastrous early defeats at this event in recent years (1st round 2012 and 2nd round 2014). Her draw is littered with threats, with mouth watering clashes with (27) Victoria Azarenka and big sister, (15) Venus Williams on the cards! Still, how can I bet against Serena?

Will Serena reach the quarters? Verdict- Yes

(2) Maria Sharapova

Maria is the defending champion and has made the final at this event for the past 3 years! Despite her loss of form in the early spring, she comes into Paris with her confidence renewed, fresh off her 3rd Italian Open title! She will be forced to hit the ground running against the former 2 time quarter finalist, Kaia Kanepi and could well encounter former finalist, (26) Samantha Stosur in the 3rd round. Still, as with Serena, its hard to bet against Maria battling through!

Will Maria reach the quarters? Verdict- Yes

(3) Simona Halep

Simona claims this event is her favourite, considering she won the Juniors in 2008 and reached her 1st Grand Slam final at the French Open, 2014! Her form on clay has been patchy, despite reaching the semis in both Stuttgart and Rome. In losing to Wozniacki, Cornet and Suarez Navarro on clay this year, Simona’s standard of play fluctuated dramatically, as she appeared to look unsure about her tactical approach. However, aside from a potential 3rd round rematch of Madrid with (29) Alize Cornet, Simona appears to have a kind draw and should be able to take advantage of this.

Will Simona reach the quarters? Verdict- Yes

(4) Petra Kvitova

Petra comes into this event having had one of her most successful clay court seasons to date, beating Serena en route to the title in Madrid and reaching the quarters in Rome. However, despite reaching the semis in Paris back in 2012, she’s struggled since, losing in the 3rd round for the past couple of years. This year, the draw looks kind to Petra, though a potential 4th round clash with either (16) Madison Keys or (23) Timea Bacsinszky will undoubtedly force Petra to play her best, considering she’s lost to both of these players this year.

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Will Petra reach the quarters? Verdict- Yes

(5) Caroline Wozniacki

Caroline has always struggled in Paris, only reaching the quarters once back in 2010! However, her extra dedication to tackle the clay has paid dividends this year, judging by her run to the final in Stuttgart and the quarters of Madrid. Though Caroline has a habit of ‘going into her shell’ when under pressure, I doubt any of her early opponents will have the consistency to match her, including her potential 4th round opponent, last year’s semi finalist (10) Andrea Petkovic.

Will Caroline reach the quarters? Verdict- Yes

(6) Eugenie Bouchard

Eugenie has had a horrid season, despite a positive start in reaching the quarters at the Australian Open. Going into Rome, she had lost 6 straight matches before finally breaking the slump with a over Diyas. However, she had a match point against the eventual finalist,Suarez Navarro in the following round and does have an uncanny habit of doing particularly well in Grand Slams! She’ll have to do well again if she wants to avoid jeopardising her top 10 ranking, considering her semi final run here last year. The task won’t be easy, considering her 1st round opponent is this week’s Strasbourg finalist (potential champion at this time of writing), Kristina Mladenovic! In an open section of the draw, the 2009 champion, (18) Svetlana Kuznetsova is the likeliest to reach the quarters in my opinion, based on her recent run to the finals in Madrid at the expense of Sharapova!

Will Eugenie reach the quarters? Verdict- No

(7) Ana Ivanovic

Ana, like Eugenie, has gone off the rails recently, losing before the quarters in 7 of the 9 events she’s played this year and all 3 on clay! Despite winning the French Open in 2008, for her only Grand Slam title to date, she hasn’t even reached the quarters since! Her draw is very tough, with a dangerous 1st round match against former 2 time quarter finalist, Yaroslava Shvedova ahead. If she were to reach the 3rd round, she could then face (31) Caroline Garcia, who has already beaten Ana 3 times this year, including on the clay in Stuttgart! For me, anyone could reach the quarters from this section, but I doubt it will be Ana.

Will Ana reach the quarters? Verdict- No

(8) Carla Suarez Navarro

Carla has been the most improved player of the year thus far, becoming only the 3rd Spanish woman to crack the top 10! She’s reached the quarters or better in 10 of the 11 events she’s played this year, including all 3 she’s played on clay in Stuttgart, Madrid and Rome. By reaching the final in Rome, where she defeated Bouchard, Kvitova and Halep before losing in 3 sets to Sharapova, Carla deservedly booked herself a top 8 seeding for Paris, an event in which she’s twice reached the quarters before, including last year. Based on her form this spring, I find it hard not to see her in the quarters, even if that means having to beat (11) Angelique Kerber in the 4th round, who has won more matches on clay than anyone else this year and at one time, compiled an 11 match winning streak through winning titles in Charleston and Stuttgart!

Will Carla reach the quarters? Verdict- Yes

Next: The Big Four At French Open 2015-Focus on Nadal

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