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From the 128 women that started in the field, only two are left standing and it will be Simona Halep and Sloane Stephens who will be going head to head to fight it out for the women’s title at Roland Garros tonight (AEST).
By way of reaching her third French Open final, Halep will retain the world number one ranking regardless of how she fares in her fourth Grand Slam final, though she will be hoping it is fourth time lucky after losing to Caroline Wozniacki in the final of the Australian Open in January.
Apart from dropping the first set (and, by extension, the first five games) of her first round match against Alison Riske, the Romanian has been in dominant touch, and will start favourite to finally land her maiden major title against Stephens, against whom she has a 5-2 record against.
The 26-year-old could not have played any better than she did in the semi-final, where she defeated 2016 champion Garbine Muguruza for the loss of just five games as she successfully defended the world number one ranking which was up for grabs at Roland Garros.
She also had to come from a set down to defeat Angelique Kerber in a rematch of their dramatic Australian Open semi-final, in which she saved several match points before advancing to the final there.
There is also no doubt she will have learnt the lessons from her spectacular choke in last year’s French Open final, which she lost to Jelena Ostapenko despite having led by a set and a break in each of the second and third sets.
Romania’s Simona Halep (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
That, as well as her gut-wrenching loss to Caroline Wozniacki in the final at Melbourne Park in January, will be major factors behind her finally breaking her Grand Slam duck once and for all.
But it will not come easy against Sloane Stephens, who has advanced to her second final in her past three Grand Slam tournaments after defeating good friend Madison Keys in straight sets in the semi-finals.
The 25-year-old has dropped just one set on her way to the final, and it came in a dramatic third round clash against Camila Giorgi where she had to break the Italian as she was serving for the match in the deciding set.
She eventually went on to claim that final set by 10-8, but apart from that, it has been smooth sailing as she bids to add to the US Open crown she won last September at the expense of compatriot Keys.
The American will also be looking to defend an undefeated record in championship matches; she has previously contested six such matches, winning each time, most recently at the Miami Open in April.
Sloane Stephens (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
She also won the only previous clay court final she contested, defeating Elena Vesnina in the final of the Charleston Open in 2016. This, however, will be her first career final in Europe.
All is now set for what should be another intriguing women’s final as we get set to crown the second Grand Slam women’s champion of 2018. Here is the all-important information you need to know heading into tonight’s final.
[1] Simona Halep (ROU) versus [10] Sloane Stephens (USA)
Saturday, June 9
3:00pm local time (11:00pm AEST)
Court Philippe Chatrier
Head-to-head
All matches: Halep 5-2
At the Grand Slams: Tied 1-all
At the French Open: Halep 1-0
In finals: First meeting
Last meeting: Halep won 6-2, 6-1, semi-finals, 2017 Cincinnati Open
Last meeting at the French Open: Halep won 6-4, 6-3, fourth round, 2014.
Last meeting in a final: Never
Simona Halep’s road to the final
Round 1: defeated Alison Riske (USA) 2-6, 6-1, 6-1
Round 2: defeated Taylor Townsend (USA) 6-3, 6-1
Round 3: defeated Andrea Petkovic (GER) 7-5, 6-0
Round 4: defeated [16] Elise Mertens (BEL) 6-2, 6-1
Quarter-finals: defeated [12] Angelique Kerber (GER) 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 6-2
Semi-finals: defeated [3] Garbine Muguruza (ESP) 6-1, 6-4
Sloane Stephens’ road to the final
Round 1: defeated Arantxa Rus (NED) 6-2, 6-0
Round 2: defeated Magdalena Frech (POL) 6-2, 6-2
Round 3: defeated Camila Giorgi (ITA) 4-6, 6-1, 10-8
Round 4: defeated [25] Anett Kontaveit (EST) 6-2, 6-0
Quarter-finals: defeated [14] Daria Kasatkina (RUS) 6-3, 6-1
Semi-finals: defeated [13] Madison Keys (USA) 6-4, 6-4
The stats that matter
* This will be Simona Halep’s fourth Grand Slam final, and third at the French Open. For Sloane Stephens this is her second and first respectively on both fronts.
* This is Simona Halep’s 31st career final, and Sloane Stephens’ seventh.
* Sloane Stephens is undefeated in all career finals she has contested, including last year’s US Open final in which she defeated Madison Keys in the final.
* Halep is attempting to become the first Romanian since Virginia Ruzici in 1978 to win a Grand Slam title.
* Halep is looking to avoid losing her first four Grand Slam finals.
* Stephens is aiming to become the first American woman not named Serena Williams to win the French Open since Jennifer Capriati in 2001. She will also be aiming for her second title in the past three majors.
* Stephens will also be bidding to become the first American, other than the Williams sisters, to win multiple majors since Jennifer Capriati won the last of her three majors at the 2002 Australian Open (she had previously won the 2001 Australian and French Open titles).
Prediction
Simona Halep in three sets.
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