Following yesterday’s preview of the men’s French Open contenders, today it’s time to assess the best of the female competitors at Roland Garros in 2014..
Defending champion Serena Williams will this year shoot for a third French Open title, which would see her complete a triple career Grand Slam on top of the double she achieved by winning Roland Garros last year.
Among her strongest contenders for the title include the two preceding champions, Li Na and Maria Sharapova, as well as world No. 3 Agnieszka Radwanska, No. 4 Simona Halep and 2012 finalist Sara Errani, among many others.
I’ll identify the three main contenders who I expect to challenge for the French Open title this year, starting with the defending champion.
Serena Williams
Current world ranking: 1
Titles this year to date: Brisbane, Miami, Rome
French Open history
Best result: Won (2002, 2013)
Last year’s result: Won
Australian Open result: Fourth round
After the season she enjoyed last year, it had been expected that Serena Williams would seriously challenge for a calendar Grand Slam in 2014.
But after successfully retaining her title in Brisbane without losing a set, a back injury and a resurgent opponent would see her bid for a sixth Australian Open title brought down by Ana Ivanovic in a massive fourth-round upset.
Steffi Graf remains the last woman to have achieved a calendar Grand Slam (achieved in 1988), and she will remain the last woman to have done so for at least another eight months.
The back injury suffered at the Australian Open would see Williams sidelined for a month. She made a comeback in Dubai, only for it to backfire as she was denied a final showdown against sister Venus by way of a loss to Alize Cornet in the semi-finals. The loss to Cornet marked her first straight-sets defeat since August 2012.
Returning in Miami, she won her seventh title in the Floridan capital, defeating world No. 2 Li Na in the championship match. En route, she kept alive her ongoing dominance of Maria Sharapova, defeating her for the 15th time in succession.
Her clay court season would get off to a disastrous start, crashing out in her opener in Charleston to 78th-ranked Slovak Jana Cepelova, who would eventually take her place in the draw and make an unexpected run to the final.
She then returned to Madrid hoping to win a third consecutive title in the Spanish capital, but a thigh injury would rob her of a quarter-final showdown against Petra Kvitova.
It would not, however, deter her from playing in Rome, where she successfully retained the title, avenging the Australian Open defeat to Ivanovic in the semi-finals en route.
Serena Williams has so far successfully defended three of the five titles this year to date, but she knows that the competition at Roland Garros will be tough. Can she win in Paris for a third time and overtake Roger Federer for most Grand Slam titles won among current players? You can bet on it.
Prediction: Champion.
Li Na
Current world ranking: 2
Titles this year to date: Shenzhen, Australian Open
French Open history:
Best result: Won (2011)
Last year’s result: Second round
Australian Open result: Won
With only a second round appearance to defend from last year, now is the time for Li Na to at least start making some inroads on Serena Williams’ lead at the top of the rankings.
The Chinese superstar has enjoyed a solid season so far in 2014, successfully defending her title in Shenzhen and then following it up by capturing her second Grand Slam title at the Australian Open after two failed previous attempts.
She may have not won another title since but has played to her world ranking, reaching the semi-finals at Indian Wells (lost to Flavia Pennetta) before reaching the Miami final for the first time, losing to top-seeded Williams in straight sets.
Her clay court season has been a rather frustrating one, losing in the quarter-finals of Madrid and Rome to Maria Sharapova and Sara Errani, respectively. The loss to Errani marked Li’s first loss against the Italian in seven meetings.
What is remarkable about Li’s season so far is that she has not yet defeated a top ten player all season, her highest ranked victim being then-11th-ranked Dominika Cibulkova, her victim in January’s Australian Open final, in Miami.
Owing to her world number two ranking, Li will not face a top ten player until at least the quarter-finals in Paris, but in the intervention should not be threatened as she looks to add another Grand Slam title to her trophy cabinet with retirement looming.
That said, with only a second round appearance to defend from last year, the motivation is there for the Chinese to do well and make a good run.
Prediction: Final
Maria Sharapova
Current world ranking: 8
Titles this year to date: Stuttgart, Madrid
French Open history:
Best result: Won (2012)
Last year’s result: Runner-up
Australian Open result: Fourth round
A truncated end to last season due to a shoulder injury, as well as a poor start to this season have conspired against Maria Sharapova to drop to eighth in the world.
However, the clay court season so far has seen a return to form for the Russian, who reached her very first Grand Slam quarter-final here at the French Open in 2004, a month before famously triumphing at Wimbledon aged just 17.
She successfully retained the title in Stuttgart, coming from a set and a break down in the championship match against Ana Ivanovic to capture her first title in 12 months.
That was then followed by victory in Madrid, where she again came from a set down to beat Simona Halep in the final, securing her 31st career title in the process.
However, her preparations for the French Open took a hit when she was surprisingly defeated by Ivanovic in Rome, ending a seven-match winning streak over the Serbian and suffering only her third ever defeat in the Italian capital (and first since 2005).
Sharapova has reached the final of the French Open for the last two years running, but her low ranking means that she must again reach the championship match or risk dropping out of the top ten.
She could possibly draw world number one and career nemesis Serena Williams in the quarter-finals, and we all know too well the dominance that Williams has on her. Williams’ dominance of Sharapova (a run of 15 consecutive wins by the American) is tennis’ equivalent of the Kennett curse, though the AFL streak was ended in last September’s preliminary final.
Just how far can Maria Sharapova go? Can she avoid Serena Williams in the quarter-finals when the draw is released this Friday?
Prediction: Quarter-finals.
Other contenders
Top four players Agnieszka Radwanska and Simona Halep will also be expected to make a deep run at the French Open. The motivation to do well is particularly high in Halep’s case, as she has only a first-round loss to defend from last year.
Serbian pair Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic are also expected to contend for the later stages of the tournament, but if they are drawn to face each other in Round 4 things could get interesting.
Ivanovic has enjoyed an impressive season with two titles so far in 2014 and, with 30 match wins for the year, is the joint match win leader along with Carla Suarez Navarro and Agnieszka Radwanska.
Her impressive build-up to the French Open included reaching the final in Stuttgart, where she lost to Maria Sharapova after being a set and a break up, the quarter-finals in Madrid and the semi-finals in Rome. She turned the tables on the Russian in the third round in Rome before losing to Serena Williams in the last four.
Ivanovic was the only player to win a set off Williams in Rome, as the American avenged her upset Australian Open loss against the Serbian in the semi-finals.
Italy’s Sara Errani, the 2012 runner-up, former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova and Canadian upstart Eugenie Bouchard should also be primed for deep runs. The stakes are high for the former, who must embark on a deep run or risk dropping down the rankings.
Former world No. 1 and dual Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka is the only major casualty. Regardless of how Simona Halep and Petra Kvitova fare, the Belarussian will drop to at least sixth in the world when the French Open concludes. If Jelena Jankovic reaches the semi-finals, Azarenka will drop to seventh.
The French Open begins tonight AEST.
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