French Open women’s outsiders
If you follow the WTA closely and you’re looking for a pick for the French Open winner you’ll know it will be hard to look past both Williams sisters, Justine Henin and possibly Jelena Jankovic.
But that doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty of other talent out there that can’t win at Roland Garros. If one of the top-10 players won the title you wouldn’t exactly be surprised and there are some good players outside the top 10 who should probably be higher ranked.
Unlike the ATP where beyond Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer, you can’t really pick a legitimate contender, the women’s tour features more talent which can take the title.
Sam Stosur
She has been in great form this year but that will mean nothing if she can’t translate it into a good run at a Grand Slam. She reached the semi-finals at Indian Wells and then reached the quarter-finals at Miami. She won at Charleston on the green clay beating Vera Zvonareva in the final. She’s shown that she likes the clay and was runner- up to Henin in Stuttgart. Add the fact that she’s a semi-finalist in Paris and Stosur has a legitimate chance of winning her maiden Grand Slam. However, she did withdraw from Rome with a right arm injury and even though it was a precautionary measure, if it lingers during the two weeks Stosur won’t be winning anything.
Ana Ivanovic
Has to be said, but she’s had a shocking 12 months dropping her ranking to 41st in the world. A shocking run of form in America wasn’t what she was hoping for, but now she’s back on the clay and is looking good. She reached the semi-final in Rome where she lost to eventual champion María José Martínez Sánchez. She lost to her fellow Serb Jankovic in the first round at Madrid but did take her to three sets and showed that she can still play against the best. Maybe the French Open has come too soon for Ivanovic but, on the clay, you can’t discount her.
María José Martínez Sánchez
Reached quarter-finals at Indian Wells and reached the semi-final at Marbella which set her up to win her third Tour singles title in Rome. She is good on clay and mixes her game up very well. What gives her an even better chance as an outsider is the fact that she’s left-handed. A mixed left-handed game on clay is dangerous so don’t rule her out. However she hasn’t been able to consistently put in the performances, doing well one tournament and then going out early in the next - maybe it’s just her time to win however.
Aravane Rezai
She's not been great this year but look at her last tournament on clay.
R64 Henin, Justine (BEL) W4-6 7-5 6-0
R32 Zakopalova, Klara (CZE) W 6-3 7-5
R16 Petkovic, Andrea (GER) W 6-4 7-6(8)
Qf(7) Jankovic, Jelena (SRB)W 7-5 6-4
Sf Safarova, Lucie (CZE) W 6-1 RET
F (4) Williams, Venus (USA) W 6-2 7-5
Not exactly unknown names are they? If she can translate that form into the French Open only one player could stop her and that will be Serena Williams - and even she might struggle to beat Rezai. You can bet she’s going to have the home crowd behind her and that could be intimidating for her opponents. But will the pressure get to Rezai? She’s still one of the top outsiders to be looking at.
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