{"id":56896,"date":"2023-05-27T07:39:17","date_gmt":"2023-05-27T11:39:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/?p=56896"},"modified":"2023-05-27T07:39:17","modified_gmt":"2023-05-27T11:39:17","slug":"2023-french-open-womens-singles-roundtable-predictions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2023\/05\/27\/2023-french-open-womens-singles-roundtable-predictions\/","title":{"rendered":"2023 French Open Women\u2019s Singles Roundtable Predictions: Champion, Dark Horse, and Early Exit"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ahead of the second Grand Slam of 2023, five Last Word on Tennis writers\u2013-Vithun Illankovan (<\/span>@VitIllankovan<\/span><\/a>), Andreas Pelekis <\/span>(<\/span>@atp3417<\/span><\/a>)<\/span>,\u00a0 Jack Edward, Damian Kust (<\/span>@damiankust<\/span><\/a>), and Glenys Furness\u2013make their Roland Garros predictions for the Women\u2019s Singles tournament. We also have a separate roundtable for the Men\u2019s singles.<\/span><\/p>\n

Women\u2019s Champion<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

The player we think will win the Women\u2019s Singles tournament<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Vithun: <\/b>(4)<\/span> Elena Rybakina [KAZ]<\/span><\/p>\n

The three stars of this WTA season so far have been Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka, and Elena Rybakina. Swiatek comes into the tournament as the No.1 seed and defending champion with a 12-2 record on clay (including a title in Stuttgart). However, the women\u2019s singles title at Roland Garros has not been successfully defended since 2007. In fact, the last successful Grand Slam singles title defence by a WTA player was by Serena Williams, all the way back in 2016 and no defending champion has gone past the quarter-finals since. <\/span>Swiatek also has an unkind draw. She may have to beat the Czech (13) Barbora Krejcikova and the Kazakh (4) Elena Rybakina (to who she has lost her last two and three matches respectively) just to reach the final. Given these statistics and Swiatek\u2019s draw, it seems the odds are not in the Pole\u2019s favour.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sabalenka comes into the French Open with a 9-2 record on clay this year including the title in Madrid. However, much of Sabalenka\u2019s success on the surface has come in Stuttgart and Madrid, neither of which are \u2018traditional\u2019 clay courts. Therefore, I am still unconvinced with her ability to perform well at Roland Garros. In addition, Sabalenka is unlikely to be in the right headspace for a deep run given that she just won her first major title at the most recent Grand Slam event, the 2023 Australian Open. Given that she also reached the semi-finals at the 2022 US Open, she is due a pre-quarterfinal exit at this year\u2019s Roland Garros. By process of elimination, I am going with Rybakina to win the women\u2019s singles at Roland Garros this year. Rybakina has a 7-2 record on clay this year, including winning the title in Rome<\/a>. Given that she doesn\u2019t have the same omens against her like her rivals, the 2022 Wimbledon champion has a great opportunity to add to her Grand Slam tally.<\/span><\/p>\n

Andreas: <\/b>(4)<\/span> Elena Rybakina [KAZ]<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to deny that Elena Rybakina has Swiatek\u2019s number; the reigning Wimbledon champion has rather easily beaten Swiatek three times this year. With that, I\u2019m backing Rybakina to win her second major this fortnight. Her quarter of the draw isn\u2019t too difficult, with Ons Jabeur or Petra Kvitova as potential quarterfinalists. With Swiatek\u2019s quarter of the draw looking chaotic, there could easily be many upsets that make Rybakina\u2019s path even easier. Rybakina made her breakthrough at the French Open with her win over Serena Williams in 2021, and this tournament could witness another massive breakthrough for the <\/span>Kazakh<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jack:<\/b> (1) Iga \u015awi\u0105tek [POL]<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>No surprises here. Iga Swiatek retired against Elena Rybakina at the WTA 1000 event in Rome but this isn\u2019t much of a worry. If she was willing to pull out of defending her title in the Italian capital for the second year running, this tells us she is being extremely cautious with her French Open preparation. Swiatek will do whatever it takes to be in the best form for arguably her favourite tournament\u2014it will take a gargantuan effort to stop her.<\/span><\/p>\n

Damian:<\/b> (1) Iga \u015awi\u0105tek [POL]<\/span><\/p>\n

The only aspect of Iga \u015awi\u0105tek\u2019s draw that doesn\u2019t exactly sound that amazing is Barbora Krejcikova in her fourth round. Is it enough to take the position of the favorite away from the Pole? Definitely not. Beating Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka in a row could be tough, but I kinda don\u2019t like looking that many rounds ahead on the women\u2019s side. In the best-of-three format, there\u2019s really no guarantee that they\u2019ll get there. \u015awi\u0105tek seems more consistent in that regard.<\/span><\/p>\n

Glenys: <\/b>(4)<\/span> Elena Rybakina [KAZ]<\/span><\/p>\n

2022 Wimbledon Champion, the Kazakh has shown she can play on all surfaces. Although clay hasn’t been a good hunting ground previously, Rybakina has improved, and in Rome showed everyone she is serious. No reason she cannot go better than last year when she made the third round.<\/span>
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