The second Grand Slam of the year begins on Sunday when some of the best women in the world head to Paris for the French Open, the culmination of what has been a fantastic clay court season so far.
Barbora Krejcikova made sure it was a clay season to remember for her 12 months ago when she landed her maiden Grand Slam singles title and she is in the field this year to attempt to make a successful defence of the title.
Recent Winners
2021 – Barbora Krejcikova
2020 – Iga Swiatek
2019 – Ash Barty
2018 – Simona Halep
2017 – Jelena Ostapenko
2016 – Garbine Muguruza
2015 – Serena Williams
2014 – Maria Sharapova
2013 – Serena Williams
2012 – Maria Sharapova
The Format
There are 128 players in the draw which has been determined prior to the event beginning and the competition is a straight knockout over the best of three sets like the other Grand Slams. The new rule that has been blanketed across all Grand Slams begins at this tournament where any deciding set which reaches 6-6 will be settled by a 10-point match tiebreak. The champion will be crowned on the second Saturday of the tournament.
Top Quarter
The 2020 champion here Iga Swiatek has assumed the world number one position since Ash Barty retired from the sport and she is the top seed in this tournament. The Polish ace is on an incredible winning run and will be expected to make at least the semi-final by coming out of this quarter. Her opponent in the last eight is seeded to be Karolina Pliskova but among the other six seeds in this quarter are a couple of former champions who will be out to spoil the Swiatek party. They are Simona Halep and Jelena Ostapenko with Ekaterina Alexandrova, Tamara Zidansek, Jessica Pegula and Liudmila Samsonova completing the seeds.
As ever in any women’s Grand Slam draw there are some dangerous outsiders in this quarter. Alison Riske and Danaya Yastremska would be classed as two in this section while Alize Cornet is one of the many home players who will be looking to thrill the crowds. Marta Kostyuk is sure to receive plenty of crowd support while she remains in the tournament given the troubles that are taking place in her home country of Ukraine.
Second Quarter
Paula Badosa is the woman who gets the honour of being the highest seed in the second quarter of the draw. She is the third seed and will be expected to make it out of this quarter but in order to do that she might need to beat Aryna Sabalenka in the last eight if the draw goes to the seeding. Once again there are six other seeds out to stop that from happening. They are Camila Giorgi, Daria Kasatkina, Danielle Collins, Elena Rybakina, Madison Keys and Veronika Kudermetova.
There aren’t as many big names among the outsiders in this quarter of the draw although Kaja Juvan was a runner up in a tournament over the weekend so she’ll arrive here with her confidence high. Caroline Garcia might be the pick of the home players so she should be able to rely on decent scheduling and good crowd support. Shelby Rogers, Taylor Townsend and Yulia Putintseva are just some of the others who catch the eye.
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Third Quarter
Maria Sakkari is still searching for her first Grand Slam title and if it is going to come at Roland Garros then she will need to win the third quarter. That isn’t going to be easy for the Greek star though because she is on a collision course with the winner in Madrid and finalist in Charleston and Rome, Ons Jabeur. The other six seeds in this quarter are the former semi-finalist Amanda Anisimova, Leylah Fernandez, the Olympic champion Belinda Bencic, US Open winner Emma Raducanu, Angelique Kerber and Petra Kvitova.
This is something of a British section because as well as it containing Raducanu, Harriet Dart and Heather Watson are also in this quarter. The biggest name away from the seeds is Naomi Osaka, who if fit will be looking to show she can play on clay as well as the hard courts. Former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu is also in what is actually a loaded quarter. Other names to note include Petra Martic and Karolina Muchova.
Bottom Quarter
The defending champion Barbora Krejcikova will attempt to make a successful defence of her title from the bottom quarter as the number two seed this year. The Czech star hasn’t played a singles event since February though so she could be vulnerable which will be music to the ears of her potential quarter final opponent Anett Kontaveit. The other six seeds won’t mind being in this section particularly with the Estonian having not played much on the clay either. Those six are Elise Mertens, Coco Gauff, Garbine Muguruza, Victoria Azarenka, Jil Teichmann and Sorana Cirstea.
As with all of these quarters some of the unseeded names jump out at us and the pick of those is the former US Open champion Sloane Stephens, who has a decent record on the clay. Kaia Kanepi is another name who will be familiar to keen tennis fans and casual ones alike while Ajla Tomljanovic, Ana Bogdan and Andrea Petkovic are just some of the other players who will be looking to stand out in the early stages of the tournament.
Betting
I’m staying as far away from Iga Swiatek as I possibly can with the form that the world number one is in so that means my two bets in this draw come in the bottom half, beginning with the other form player on the clay in Ons Jabeur. The Tunisian has been in excellent form on the clay, landing the title in Madrid where Swiatek was absent and then reaching the final in Charleston and Rome, losing to Belinda Bencic and Swiatek respectively. Jabeur has been making strides in the Slams anyway and looks to be playing the best tennis of her career. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see the Roland Garros final be a repeat of the recent Rome one. I don’t see Swiatek being beaten but the 6/1 place money that would be in the bag ahead of a shot to try and beat the Pole are odds I don’t mind.
This is a tournament that has thrown up some ridiculously unlikely finalists, semi-finalists and occasionally winners in recent years and while I don’t think we are going to get a surprise winner here, we could get a surprise finalist because the two main seeds in the bottom quarter have more than a few doubts over them. The best of the rest in that section haven’t enjoyed fantastic clay court campaigns either so it might be that if Jil Teichmann has recovered from the abdomen injury that she quit Rome with a couple of weeks ago, the Swiss ace could be the one to deliver the deep run at a decent price. She put a decent Madrid campaign together and was looking great in Rome until her injury struck. Teichmann showed she can come through strong fields when she made the final in Toronto last season and her record against the better players is pretty good. On a surface she enjoys but not many in her quarter do the 100/1 on her looks a tad big if she is fully fit.
Tips
Back O.Jabeur to win French Open (e/w) for a 1.5/10 stake at 13.00 with Coral (1/2 1-2)
Back her here:
Back J.Teichmann to win French Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 101.00 with Betfair (1/3 1-2)
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