Well I've already given my thoughts on the top four in the men's side of the tournament that is the French Open, the second grand slam of the year, so here are my thoughts on the possible contenders for the ladies.
Starting with the obvious ones, why not start with Serena Williams, who has been in blistering form lately since her return to the WTA tour, and her clay court season has been superb and she has yet to lose a match on the clay (of any colour!), with two titles to her name in Charleston and Madrid. So has Serena got a chance to lift the title? Definitely. Serena more than any other player has the ability and is she one of the all time great players, with 13 slams to her name already, so is a better bet than anyone. But you never know how things can go in a grand slam, and there is no guarantees that she will make it all the way through to the final, as anything can happen.
Next we have Victoria Azarenka who this year became the newly christened World No.1, and the Australian Open champion, and while she has yet to even win a clay court title in her career as yet, she is still a very strong contender, and if Serena is knocked before the final, then Vika could well be the next best choice. But as I said anything can and will happen and it remains to be seen if Victoria can make it through to the later stages, but I would be really surprised if she didn't.
After Victoria, I think the player with the next best shot is Maria Sharapova, and in a way she has a better shot than Victoria has, as Maria has already beaten Vika in Stuttgart this year on the clay, and I think the surface of clay gives Maria more time to hit through the ball. Maria also did really well last year at the French Open, reaching the semi finals, only to be put out by the eventualy champion, Li Na. And in that semi final match she ended it on the worst possible note with a double fault, so here's hoping for her sake that it doesn't happen again.
After this there are a few more players that could have an outside chance, starting with well Li Na herself, who has found some really good form again this year on the clay, and just maybe she can defend her title this year, but its a big ask, given the competition. Agnieszka Radwanska could also have a chance, depending on her draw, but sooner or later she might face a player that could beat her, and if she reaches the semis, she most likely will play Victoria Azarenka, who has an emphatic 6-0 win lead this year over her. Sam Stosur also has a chance as she was already a French Open finalist in 2010, and her clay game this year has been really good, and being the reigning US Open champion, Sam could utilise her experience should she get to the final once again,
And another outsider who has a chance, but is a real longshot given her recent form, is Francesca Schiavone, who was the champion back in 2010. Fran has suffered from pretty bad form lately and she has been going out early in alot of tournaments in the first round. However she has really improved her form this week in the WTA International event in Strasbourg, where she has played some incredible tennis, and has cruised her way to the finals, having defeated Sloan Stephens in the semis in straight sets 7-5, 6-1, and she will face the French player, Alize Cornet in the final. And given this run of form in Strasbourg, I can even see her possibly going on and winning the title there too, and if she does it will give her big confidence going into the French, and if she wins the final on Saturday it will be her first title since winning the French Open back in 2010. And I would really like to see Francesca go as deep as she can into the tournament, as I think in the past she has geared herself up so well for the French Open and I think she is doing it here again, so all the very best to her this week in Strasbourg and for the French, and I will definitely be rooting for her.
Then there are some players who I don't really see having much of a chance such as Caroline Wozniacki, who started off the year as the World No.1 and has now taken a dive down to the No.8. Caroline really isnt a clay court player, although she has won some Premier level clay events on the WTA tour, the French Open is an event which I think will always elude her and there are too many players that can hit her off the court. Petra Kvitova is also another player who has the chance to do well, but again I think her form has really been up and down of late, and she had her chance to be the World No.1 in Melbourne, but she missed it, and since then she has lost in several tournaments and has gone down to the World No.4. And overall Petra is always a player that struggles with consistency, as she is either unplayable or patchy.
So that's my thoughts on the ladies contenders for the French Open, the draw is announced tomorrow, so we will find who is scheduled to play who.
Till then that's it for now.
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