On May 27, the 122nd edition for the French Open will kick off with the world’s best women’s tennis players congregating at the Stade Roland Garros, all vying for a Grand Slam title.
While everyone is talking about Serena Williams, especially in light of the news that the French Federation of Tennis will not seed her at this year’s event, she is simply not a contender in this writer’s opinion. Upon her return in March, the 453-ranked Williams had early defeats at Indian Wells and Miami as she has struggled for form. She also pulled out of clay-court events in Madrid and Rome, and if she does show at the French Open, she will have to face some of the world’s best players early in the tournament in light of her unseeded status. Williams’ early +1000 odds to win this event were overinflated from the beginning and are sure to plummet soon. So instead, we’re going to focus on legitimate contenders for the women’s singles side of the 2018 French Open below.
TV Broadcast: ESPN, NBC Sports, TSN, Tennis Channel
Note: Odds subject to change from time of publishing
FAVORITES
Simona Halep (+550)
Halep has reached the championship round at the Roland Garros two times before, most recently last year when he lost to Jeļena Ostapenko in the finals. Ranked No. 1 in the world, Halep will look to net her first
Grand Slam title at the French Open following also another setback in the finals of the recently concluded Italian Open to Elina Svitolina. On her way to the finals of that tournament, Halep defeated the likes of Madison Keys, Caroline Garcia, and Maria Sharapova. She is 6-2 in clay court matches this year.
Elina Svitolina (+800)
Speaking of Svitolina, the 23-year-old Ukrainian is surely in top form after her aforementioned win at the Italian Open, one that gave the fourth-ranked tennis star her third singles title of the year. In last year’s
edition of the French Open, Svitolina reached the quarterfinals, which was the deepest she’s made so far in the tournament since she started competing in the event in 2013.
SLEEPERS
Coco Vandeweghe (+5000)
Apart from searching for her first career Grand Slam title, Vandeweghe is also looking for her first singles title since 2016. Not many are counting on Vandeweghe to go far at Roland Garros, but that’s also why
she’s a sleeper. Although she struck out in the round of 128 in last year’s French Open, she reached the quarterfinals of the Wimbledon and made it to the semifinals of the US Open and the Australian Open in 2017.
Sloane Stephens (+4000)
Sloane Stephens managed to reach the round of 16 of the French Open for four-straight years from 2012 to 2015 before that streak was snapped last year when she got bounced out of the tournament in the round of 32. Nevertheless, it has not been a trend for Stephens to pack her bags early at Roland Garros, so it makes sense to root for her to do well in the tournament. Stephens is 4-2 in clay court matches this year as of this writing to go with a singles title win at the Miami Masters back in April.
LONG SHOT
Elise Mertens (+5000)
There are a few players who have had a good clay season (greater than 105%) so far this year. This lot includes Elise Mertens, Karolina Pliskova and Camila Giorgi. There could be some decent outsider value, assuming they receive a kind draw on Thursday, but this writer likes Elise best. This clay season, Belgium’s Mertens boasts 13 consecutive match wins that include title runs in Lugano and Rabat. She had to pull out of Rome with an illness but if she’s healthy in France, you can expect another strong showing from the Australian Open semi-finalist.
Writer’s Prediction
Simona Halep takes home the 2018 French Open title.
