By Chris Oddo | Friday May 20, 2016
Can a 21-time major champion have a tricky draw? If so, then this could be it.
Photo Source: AP
It’s hard to call any draw for a 21-time major champion "tricky" but one must use relative terms when referring to Serena Williams' prospects at a Grand Slam event.
Using those terms, yes, Serena Williams Roland Garros draw is indeed a little bit tricky.
See the Complete Roland Garros Women's Singles Draw Here
The draw was released on Friday morning in Paris and a confident Williams reacted later in press by assessing her season quite critically. “If I’m not winning I’m not happy about my year,” she said. “Four tournaments, three finals isn’t bad for, I think, everyone else. Then again I’m not everyone else.”
Williams will open with Slovakia’s Magdalena Rybarikova, a player she defeated 6-1, 6-1 in their only previous meeting and could face either Teliana Pereira or Kristyna Pliskova in the second round. From there things get more complicated as Williams could face France’s 26th-seeded Kristina Mladenovic in the third round, And 14th-seeded Ana Ivanovic in the fourth round and 5th-seeded Victoria Azarenka in the quarterfinals.
If the seeds hold, Williams would face third-seeded Angelique Kerber in the semifinals, but Madison Keys, Venus Williams, Johanna Konta, Jelena Jankovic and Timea Bacsinszky all populate this section.
In the lower half of the draw the quarterfinalists, if the seeds hold, would be [7] Roberta Vinci vs. [4] Garbine Muguruza and [6] Simona Halep vs. [2] Agnieszka Radwanska.
Vinci opens with Kateryna Bondarenko of the Ukraine; Muguruza will start with Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia; Halep will face Nao Hibino of Japan in her opener, while Radwanska is pitted against Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia.
Circling back to the top half, Azarenka will open with Italy’s Karen Knapp and could face 28th seeded Andrea Petkovic in the third round and 12th-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro in the round of 16.
Compelling first-rounders at Roland Garros include 29th-seeded Daria Kasatkina vs. Anna Lena Friedsam of Germany and Laura Seigemund of Germany vs. Eugenie Bouchard.