French Open 2018 – Women’s Preview
May 28 – June 10
While the men’s champion has been known before a ball is even hit for most of the last decade, as Rafael Nadal has risen to being the greatest clay-courter of all time, the ladies’ champion has been decidedly harder to pick.
That was never truer than 12 months ago when Jelena Ostapenko stunned the field to win not only win her first ever Grand Slam but her maiden WTA title. However, while the Australian Open saw seven women vying for favouritism between 4/1 and 7/1 the markets have a clearer opinion of this one as Simona Halep and Elina Svitolina are the only players priced in single figures.
There are some clear form trends we can use to help predict the winner though:
- Since 1997, 18 of 21 champions had reached at least one final in their last four tournaments
- Since 1997, 20 of 21 champions had reached at least one semi-final in their last three tournaments while 17 had at least two semis in their last four events
- 14 of the 18 champions since 2000 have won one of their last four tournaments
Form Guide – Rome, Madrid, plus two previous tournaments
Player | Rome FP | Madrid FP | Event | FP | Event | FP |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Simona Halep | RU | QF | Stuttgart | QF | Miami | Rd3 |
Garbine Muguruza | Rd2 | Rd3 | Stuttgart | Rd2 | Monterrey | W |
Elina Svitolina | W | Rd2 | Stuttgart | QF | Miami | QF |
Serena Williams | DNP | DNP | Miami | Rd1 | Indian Wells | Rd3 |
Jelena Ostapenko | QF | Rd1 | Stuttgart | QF | Miami | RU |
Maria Sharapova | SF | QF | Stuttgart | Rd1 | Indian Wells | Rd1 |
Karolina Pliskova | Rd2 | SF | Stuttgart | W | Miami | QF |
Daria Kasatkina | Rd3 | QF | Prague | Rd1 | Stuttgart | Rd1 |
Petra Kvitova | DNP | W | Prague | W | Stuttgart | Rd1 |
Caroline Wozniacki | QF | Rd3 | Istanbul | QF | Miami | Rd2 |
Kiki Bertens* | Rd1 | RU | Stuttgart | Rd1 | Charleston | W |
* Bertens is the only player playing the week before the French Open (Nurnberg) where she’s currently in the QFs at the time of writing