Earlier this year Australian Open victor, Serena Williams moved closer to what might be her 20th Grand Slam title, since earlier this year she has steadily shown her form despite her elbow-injury where she had to withdraw from the Rome tournament and before that was brought down by Petra Kvitova in Madrid, she maintains her number one in the world ranking, her status as favorite has not diminished, making her one of the solid picks for the title, historically the French Open is her least successful Grand Slam tournament, having won only twice in 2002 and more recently the 2013 tournament. her appearance this year to defend her second round will allow her to keep her unconquerable lead at the top of the rankings, and perhaps for the third straight season be called the number one player in tennis and historically the best player ever produced.
The closest rival to Williams, Maria Sharapova will surely be a heavy contender for this tournament, claiming the Rome title last week over Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro and reclaiming her number two in the world ranking, due to her maximum points defender status she will not be facing Williams, against whom she has lost the last sixteen matches, without the ability to earn any ranking points she still has a big chance of defending her title this year, last year the Russian would have had to face Williams in the quarter-finals, same scenario in 2012, the American’s early exit cleared the path for her to claim a second French Open title after her first win two years earlier completed a Career Grand Slam.
The Romanian, Simona Halep has had a great season, reaching the quarter-finals of the Australian Open for a second straight year and winning one of the biggest non-Grand Slam titles of the year at Indian Wells in March, not so impressive was her first round exit in Madrid and a semi-final loss to Carla Suarez Navarro in Rome, both of which have seen her drop to third in the world rankings, she will have to face Williams or Sharapova, if she makes it this far, she will surely be put to the test, apart from losing the final to Sharapova last year, she also lost in the semifinals at Wimbledon to Eugenie Bouchard, she is after all number three in the ranking and surely a name to follow this upcoming tournament.
