By Chris Oddo | Friday May 26, 2017
The women’s singles draw at Roland Garros features some great week one matchups and, just as we expected, chaos appears to be in the forecast. Here are 8 quick thoughts on the heels of Friday’s draw ceremony in Paris.
More: Tennis Now Q&A with Defending Roland Garros Champion Garbiñe Muguruza
Kerber is in trouble
How is it that Ekaterina Makarova never gets seeded at majors? Once again the hard-hitting Russian (currently ranked No.40) is a non-seeded lurker that promises to make life very miserable for a top-seeded player. This time that top-seeded player is the WTA’s poster child for disappearing confidence, Angelique Kerber. The German lost in the first round in Paris last year after becoming a major champion at Australia. This year she’s in freefall (6-10 vs. the Top 50), so it’s difficult to envision anything but an early exit. Kerber owns a 7-4 lifetime record over Makarova, so there’s that working in favor of the World No.1.
Kerber’s loss could be Kuznetsova’s gain
The next-highest seed in Kerber’s quarter of the draw is Svetlana Kuznetsova, who is one of three former Roland Garros champs in the women’s singles draw. Kuznetsova has been on the cusp of something very big for about a year now—could this be the event where she breaks loose? She owns 50 lifetime wins in Paris, so winning on this surface has become a habit over the years for Kuznetsova.
Clash of former champs in round one
It wasn’t really a great draw for Francesca Schiavone, who gets No.4-seeded and defending champion Garbiñe Muguruza in the first round, but you know what? The Italian will get on a big showcourt with a chance to say a proper goodbye to the event where she made her name. That’s the blessing of getting Muguruza in round one for Schiavone. The other blessing is that Schiavone has been in really good form this spring and just might be up for making this a match. The curse is that Muguruza can hit her off the court with her eyes closed if she’s on. Should be interesting. Got your popcorn ready?
Some very enticing third-rounders on the docket
There are certainly no guarantees that they will happen, but potential meetings between [10] Venus Williams and [24] Daria Gavrilova and [26] Daria Kasatkina and [3] Simona Halep could be excellent. Not many consider Venus Williams a threat on clay, but Williams, when confident, can win on any surface. Gavrilova and Kasatkina are excellent on clay and could pose threats in slower conditions. Halep is Halep – capable of great tennis and mind-boggling tennis all at once.
There's also some pretty good projected fourth-rounders, if the seeds hold (see below).
Halep could run into trouble earlier however
Halep, bad ankle and all, will take on Jana Cepelova in the first round. For those not familiar with the Slovakian here’s the deal: She owns a 3-2 record against the Top 5 and has previously defeated Halep in the first round at a major. Cepelova is sort of an upset specialist (last year she took out Muguruza in the second round at Wimbledon), and this first-round match will be one to watch.
Petra’s back! What can we expect?
Probably one of the most wonderful, heartwarming stories of week one is the return of Petra Kvitova to the tour. The former semifinalist will play with no expectations and that could make her dangerous here in Paris. Kvitova will square off with American Julia Boserup in the first round. At the very least, the Czech will get some match play in and set herself up nicely for some good times on the grass this summer. But with this crazy draw, you never know, we could see Kvitova in week two. A potential third-rounder with [23] Sam Stosur would be really fun if it happened.
Draw winner? Elina Svitolina
Elina Svitolina is coming off the Rome title and that achievement always gets a player mentioned among the favorites to go deep at Roland Garros, whether it’s true or not. But in Svitolina’s case, it might be true. There are a lot of players that are better suited for other surfaces in the Ukrainian’s quarter, like [29] Ana Konjuh (potential third-round opponent, who likes grass) and [12] Madison Keys (potential round of 16 opponent, who likes grass as well). If Svitolina makes the last eight she could potentially face Simona Halep, who may or may not be fit enough to make a run this year at Roland Garros because of her ankle issue. There’s a lot to like about Svitolina’s form and draw. It feels like the stars could be a aligning for a deep run.
Draw Loser? We can’t find one
Honestly, this draw is so wide open. This is a draw for winners, not losers. There’s opportunity for every woman that has entered this draw, and we are not just talking about seeded players.
Unseeded players who could make a run
We could see World No.52 Anett Kontaveit backing up her stellar form on clay this season with a run, but to do so she’ll have to get past Garbiñe Muguruza or Francesca Schiavone in round two. Kontaveit has gone 16-4 including qualies since Miami, and looks to be a player on the rise. And how about former finalist Lucie Safarova? The World No.38 will have to get by [16] Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to advance, but we could certainly see that happening. Something also tells us that American teenager CiCi Bellis could be a difference-maker in week one. She opens with Dutch qualifier Quirine Lemoine and could face [18] Kiki Bertens in round two.
Last but not least, Latvian Jelena Ostapenko could be primed to breakout. The 19-year-old World No.45 in a section with top-seeded Angelique Kerber and No.31-seeded Roberta Vinci.