French Open Women`s Singles Tournament Winner Preview

After the seismic shock of Serena Williams crashing out of the French Open at the second-round stage, the second Grand Slam of the season is absolutely wide open on the women’s side. This has been a truly unique French Open with number 2 seed Li Na going out to Kristina Mladenovic in the first round on Tuesday and number 1 seed Williams being beaten comfortably by Garbiñe Muguruza in the second round on Wednesday, this is the first time in the Open Era that the top two seeds have lost in the first two rounds at a Grand Slam.

Third seed Agnieszka Radwańska didn’t fare much better she exited in round three, and 12 of the top 16 seeds had crashed out by the fourth round.

So this year’s French Open could be remembered as one in which the baton was passed to a new generation of champions. Young talents Muguruza and Eugenie Bouchard have both made the quarter-finals, while one of the most impressive players of the last twelve months, Simona Halep, is also into the last eight.

And the quarter-final draw has thrown up some interesting battles between youth and experience. Muguruza plays the ‘veteran’ Maria Sharapova, while Bouchard plays the experienced Spaniard and clay court specialist Carla Suárez Navarro. Halep plays the 28 year-old former French and US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova while Andrea Petkovic and Sara Errani face off in the fourth quarter-final. But who will ultimately triumph and carry off the French Open title?

Firstly, it it hard to bet against Sharapova winning the first quarter-final, as she is one of the world’s very best players and such a tough competitor. She has also won the French Open before, of course. Bouchard against Suarez-Navarro will be very interesting. I wasn’t overly impressed with Bouchard’s play on clay earlier this season, but she has very much improved since then, but I have to tip against the clay court specialist. Bouchard has the sort of self-belief that could enable her to beat anyone, but I’ll still tip the Russian to come through the top half.

Halep has proved herself to be a fantastic player in the last few months, and I really rate her play very highly. She is much higher seeded and more in-form than Kuznetsova, and I think she will come through to face Sara Errani in the semi-final. Halep and Errani have shared two very one-sided matches recently, but crucially Halep walloped Errani in Doha this year, bagelling her in the second set, and I fancy the Romanian to come through again to meet Sharapova in the final.

I have never been a fan of Sharapova’s incessant screeching, and would love to see Halep beat her in the final if it comes down to that. But Halep has lost three out of three against Sharapova and recently lost narrowly on clay to her in Madrid. Perhaps she can reverse that result in Paris, but I’m going to have to tip Sharapova to triumph.

Tip: Maria Sharapova to win

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03/06/2014     © Frixo 2026