View the entire women's bracket at our Roland Garros tournament page.
Karolina Pliskova, Kiki Bertens, Petra Kvitova: The three biggest WTA Roland Garros tune-ups events have given us three intriguing contenders for the crown in Paris. Yet none of them have gone all the way at the French before; do you trust any of them to do it this time? Should we look instead to a player who has already proven herself on these courts, such as Simona Halep, or even Serena Williams? Or is there a chance that the winner of the last two majors, Naomi Osaka, could make it a third? This has been a season of surprises in women’s tennis; we probably shouldn’t expect anything less at its second Slam.
Osaka hasn’t won anything on this clay season, or even reached a final, but she played enough to make herself more comfortable on dirt, and presumably more competitive. She’ll need to be, because she’s in a tough section. If she wins her opener, Osaka will play one of two former major champions, Jelena Ostapenko or Victoria Azarenka. After that, she could face Maria Sakkari, who is playing better than her No. 29 seeding. In the fourth round, Osaka is scheduled to play Madison Keys, who beat her here last year. And her quarterfinal could pit her against Ash Barty or Serena Williams.
Question Marks: Keys: She made the semis here in 2018, and won Charleston a few weeks ago, but after early losses in Madrid and Rome, she comes back to Paris with precious little momentum.
Serena: A fourth title? An early exit? It’s hard to know what to expect from Serena, who has played four matches since January.
Bianca Andreescu: The Canadian teen was the talk of the sport in March, but injuries have sidelined her since. She could face Serena in the third round.
Semifinalist: Osaka
Halep certainly doesn’t come in as the hottest player; she failed to win any of the clay lead-up events this spring. But the No. 3 seed does come in with the more recent experience of success at Roland Garros than anyone else. A finalist in 2017 and a winner in 2018, she may still be the safest bet on clay on the women’s side. This year, Halep will start against Ajla Tomljanovic, and the three seeds near her are Lesia Tsurenko, Daria Kasatkina and Qiang Wang. On paper, Halep’s most difficult test will come against Kvitova in the quarters. But while Kvitova would be a tough out, it has been a while since made it that far in Paris.
Question Mark: Aryna Sabalenka. The Belorussian sure shot has been in a slump for most of 2019, but she has shown some signs of life on clay this week. Her opponents should hope she doesn’t show any more at Roland Garros.
Semifinalist: Halep
Kiki Bertens and Sloane Stephens, two of the favorites for the title, headline this section. Which of them seems more likely to survive into the quarters? Bertens has been the better player this spring, but did she peak too early, with her title in Madrid? Stephens lost to Bertens in the semis there, but she has traditionally saved her best for the Slams—Sloane was a set away from the title in Paris last year.
This time, Stephens and Bertens each have moderately tough draws. Elina Svitolina and Garbiñe Muguruza are on Sloane’s side; Belinda Bencic and Jo Konta are on Bertens’ side—Konta beat Bertens in Rome this past weekend.
First-round match to watch: Svitolina vs. Venus Williams. They’ve split their previous two matches. While Svitolina is the higher-ranked player, she’s been slowed by a knee problem this year.
Semifinalist: Stephens
Is this Pliskova’s time? Is she hitting her long stride at just the right moment? The signs are positive; after knocking on the door for much of the season, she knocked it down last week with her title in Rome. Judging by her draw, she could do the same in Paris.
Pliskova starts against Madison Brengle; the American is ranked just 95th, but she did win two matches in the Nuremberg main draw this week. The other seeds in this quarter include Angelique Kerber, Caroline Wozniacki and Anastasija Sevastova. But Pliskova’s biggest challenge could come from the unseeded Frenchwoman Kiki Mladenovic in the third round. Their head-to-head is knotted at 2-2, and this time Kiki would be playing at home.
Semifinalist: Pliskova
Semifinals: Halep d. Osaka; Pliskova d. Stephens
Final: Halep d. Pliskova
