PARIS (France): Former champion Simona Halep will start as the favourite in the rescheduled French Open as the women’s draw will be without title holder Ashleigh Barty and US Open champion Naomi Osaka.
Serena Williams will launch her bid for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam singles crown, but Roland Garros is the American’s least successful major despite her wins in 2002, 2013 and 2015.
Garbine Muguruza, who defeated Williams in the 2016 final, is another contender while fellow former world number one Victoria Azarenka is hoping to take the momentum from her run to the US Open final into the clay swing.
Fourth-ranked Karolina Pliskova, seeded second in Paris, said Halep was undoubtedly the favourite for a tournament pushed back from its traditional spring slot for the first time in its history due to the coronavirus.
“I think she’s going to be the (top) favourite from the women’s tournament, because I think also the way she played, she played already (won) Prague on clay. She won this tournament.
“So I feel like she’s confident. For sure she’s going to be dangerous,” said the Czech.
Pliskova retired from the Italian Open final with a thigh injury after dropping the first set to Halep, who extended her winning run to 14 matches.
Last year’s runner-up Marketa Vondrousova will again target a deep run in Paris having rediscovered some form at last week’s Italian Open, where she made the semi-finals before losing to compatriot Pliskova.
“I know the weather is not looking that great in Paris, so I think the conditions just to like play aggressive game against her is going to be quite tough,” said Pliskova.
Halep, who also won in Dubai before the five-month tour suspension, spent the break working hard on her fitness, but said the global health crisis had given her a fresh outlook on tennis.
“I’m more mature, I think. The pandemic got me in a place that I really dreamed to be,” she told WTA Insider. “I am more relaxed because I could see that the most difficult things are in life in general, not in sport.”
No woman has successfully defended the French Open title since Justine Henin won three times in a row between 2005 and 2007, a trend set to continue with Barty pulling out over the coronavirus fears that also prompted her to skip the US Open.
A sore hamstring has sidelined three-time Grand Slam champion Osaka, while Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 US Open winner, will miss the tournament as well. The Canadian hasn’t played since hurting her knee last October at the WTA Finals.
“As I said always, many girls from the top 10, top 15 have a chance to win a Grand Slam,” said Halep.
“Roland Garros is very open, because it’s clay court but it’s a little bit faster, so also the big hitters can win it easy.”
Serena, who turns 39 on Saturday, has not added to her Grand Slam haul since winning the 2017 Australian Open while pregnant.
