The women’s French Open tournament has delivered some of the bigger surprises in the sport in recent years and as the best players in the world head to Paris for the 2024 staging it will be interesting to see if the favourites can come to the fore at Roland Garros.
Iga Swiatek has been the one exception to that and she won the tournament last year. She is becoming a bit of a force like Rafael Nadal was in the men’s game and she will look to make a successful defence of her title here.
Recent Winners
2023 – Iga Swiatek
2022 – Iga Swiatek
2021 – Barbora Krejcikova
2020 – Iga Swiatek
2019 – Ash Barty
2018 – Simona Halep
2017 – Jelena Ostapenko
2016 – Garbine Muguruza
2015 – Serena Williams
2014 – 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 continues 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
Iga Swiatek is comfortably the number one player in the world in the women’s draw and she is the top seed in the top quarter as a result of that. If this tournament goes to the seeding then she will meet the Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova in the quarter final. The other six seeds looking to stop that from happening in this section are Katerina Siniakova, Marta Kostyuk, Danielle Collins who has caught fire in recent weeks, Ekaterina Alexandrova, the former champion Barbora Krejcikova and Veronika Kudermetova.
There are some big names who don’t have a seeding next to their name in this quarter, not least the former Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka while Marie Bouzkova is a dangerous challenger to any seed. Martina Trevisan is a former semi-finalist in this tournament while Donna Vekic has made a good career for herself. Lesia Tsurenko is another player who could be dangerous in what looks like a very competitive quarter.
Second Quarter
The US Open champion Coco Gauff is the top seed in the second quarter of the draw and she is a former finalist in this competition so she will be a popular pick for many over the course of the fortnight. Ons Jabeur is the player who is seeded to meet her in the quarter final but there are some threats among the other seeds in this section looking to stop that from happening. They are Leylah Fernandez, the home star Caroline Garcia, the former champion Jelena Ostapenko, Beatriz Haddad Maia, Liudmila Samsonova and Dayana Yastremska.
There are some competent players within the unseeded ranks in this section of the draw. Magda Linette would be one of those while Amanda Anisimova has had a big run in this tournament in the past too. Sofia Kenin is a former Grand Slam champion and she has the power to be a threat to anyone in the draw. Anna Kalinina is another who will need to be watched by the bigger names in other competitive looking section of the draw.
Third Quarter
The former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina is the highest seed in the third quarter of the draw but this one does feel like the most open of them because she is seeded to meet Qinwen Zheng in the quarter final. You wouldn’t call either natural clay court stars so the other six seeds in this section will certainly fancy their chances. They are Elise Mertens, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Elina Svitolina, Jasmine Paolini, Anna Kalinskaya and Sorana Cirstea.
Some huge names are in the unseeded parts of this draw including a couple of former Grand Slam winners in the form of Angelique Kerber and Bianca Andreescu. The home veteran Alize Cornet has a wildcard for this event and she is in this part of the draw while the likes of Sara Sorribes Tormo, Karolina Pliskova, Petra Martic, Kiki Mladenovic and Greet Minnen are some of the others who could have decent runs in the tournament.
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Bottom Quarter
The Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka is the top seed in the bottom quarter of the draw. She goes in search of a first French Open title and bids to keep the calendar slam alive over the course of the fortnight. Maria Sakkari is the player she is seeded to meet in the quarter final. The six seeds out to stop that clash from taking place are Linda Noskova, Victoria Azarenka, Daria Kasatkina, the Strasbourg winner Madison Keys, Emma Navarro and the British number one Katie Boulter.
There are no lack of big names who are in this part of the draw without a seed next to their name. The former winner Sloane Stephens is in this section while Yulia Putintseva is another name here. Paula Badosa was number two in the world not so long ago and she is in this quarter while Peyton Stearns heads into the tournament having won in Rabat in the lead up to it. Nadia Podoroska has had a deep run in this tournament in the past as well.
Betting
This isn’t really a draw that gets me excited ahead of the tournament I have to say. I say that because the two big Masters events saw Iga Swiatek meet Aryna Sabalenka in the final and I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see those two women battle it out for a third clay court crown in the space of five or so weeks. If that wasn’t to happen though I suspect it would be Sabalenka most likely to fail rather than Swiatek so I want nothing to do with the top half for a bet here but I’ll have a look at the bottom half.
Were something to happen to Sabalenka then it might be that the player she beat to win the Australian Open can go well in a slam again in Qinwen Zheng. Her compatriot Li Na won this tournament back in 2011 and there is every indication that the 21-year-old will outdo her in her career so it stands to reason she could be a threat here. Zheng hasn’t had the best clay season this term but in her career she is 68:20 on the surface. She has the power to get these balls through the court and in an open looking section she might just be the sleeper of the pile.
Quarter Betting
There really isn’t a lot that I like elsewhere in the draw in the quarter betting because I do think the top three seeds are good things but just in case Aryna Sabalenka has a day to forget somewhere then it could be worth backing the form of Madison Keys to continue for another few matches down in the bottom of the draw. Sabalenka is playing the best tennis of her career at the minute but she has only once gone past the third round here so it might not be a foregone conclusion that she wins her quarter.
Keys won the tournament in Strasbourg in the run up to this tournament where she battered her compatriot Danielle Collins in the final for the loss of just three games and given how well Collins has been going recently that was a wonderful win. Usually you would worry about fatigue after a win before a Slam but in the four matches Keys won in that tournament she lost just 16 games. In the Madrid and Rome clay events she has wins over Samsonova, Gauff and Haddad Maia before losing to Swiatek on both. There is juice in the 9/1 that Keys wins the bottom quarter.
Tips
Back Q.Zheng to win French Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 56.00 with 888sport (1/2 1-2)
Back her here:
Back M.Keys to win 4th Quarter for a 2/10 stake at 10.00 with William Hill
Back her here:
