Last year, Simona Halep won her first career grand slam title by winning the 2018 French Open. A year later, she has yet to earn her second grand slam title. Will she get another won at Roland Garros? Or will she lose her bid to defend her French Open title? Read on for more about the women’s side of the bracket at the French Open below.
The latest on Simona Halep is that she’s not going to be able to defend this title at the Italian Open, considered to be a preparatory tournament for the French Open. That’s after Halep was sent crashing out of the event in the second round via a loss to Marketa Vondrousova. Prior to that, Halep was on the verge of notching her title of the year, but had her plans foiled by Kiki Bertens in the finals of the Madrid Open. Halep, however, has battled with cold of late, which definitely affected her performance. It’s partly for the same reason why Halep has reportedly said that she have to take some days to rest to be ready for the tight competition at Roland Garros, per Tennis World USA.
“I just couldn’t win today but I have extra days off, which is good. I will enjoy the rest now and try to be ready for the French Open. Of course, I didn’t want to lose today. I started to feel a little pain in the leg in the second set after sliding.”
Halep is the defending French Open women’s singles champion and is 6-2 on clay this year.
Serena Williams has nothing left to prove in tennis. She’s the greatest women’s tennis player of all-time, and one could make a case that she is the greatest of the sport, regardless of gender. But can she add to his legacy with a win at the 2019 French Open? More importantly as of the moment is whether she’ll be able to play at all at Roland Garros. Williams, who has not played much at all this year, was forced to withdraw from the Italian Open due to a knee issue, per the New York Times.
“I must withdraw from the Italian Open due to pain in my left knee,” Williams said in a statement provided by the WTA. “I will miss the fans and competition at one of my favorite tournaments. I’ll be concentrating on rehab and look forward to seeing you all at the French Open and next year in Rome.”
William is a three-time French Open champion. She got eliminated in the round of 16 last year and had a runner-up finish at the tournament in 2016 – a year after she won her last at the French Open.
Bertens is feeling it of late. With two title wins on the year, Bertens is looking to ride her momentum into the French Open. The 27-year-old Dutch made loud noises at the Madrid Open, where she beat the likes of Petra Kvitova, Sloane Stephens on her way to the finals. In the finals, Bertens took down Halep to the tune of a 6-4, 6-4 victory. She is 13-3 on clay this year, as of this writing, and could add more to that, depending on her performance in the ongoing Italian Open, where she made the semifinals.
Keys wasn’t always a great performer at Roland Garros, but she just had her best finish at the tournament last year, when the American managed a final four finish. That could be a sign of great things to come for Keys, who won the Volvo Car Open in Charleston, defeating Caroline Wozniacki in the finals of the clay court tournament.
Like Williams, Wozniacki retired from the 2019 Italian Open due to an injury. Wozniacki withdrew from her first-round showdown with Danielle Collins due to a leg issue, which could spoil her plans of playing at Roland Garros this year. Throughout her career, Wozniacki has never reached deeper than the quarterfinal round of the French Open.
Writer’s Prediction
Kiki Bertens wins the 2019 French Open women’s singles title.
