French Open 2021: Women’s Singles Draw Preview and Predictions

The second grand slam of the season, The French Open is set to begin from May 30 and will feature the best players across the women’s circuit battling it out to lift the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen.

Tournament Details:

• Tournament: French Open 2021 (Roland Garros)
• Date: May 30-June 12, 2021
• Number of Entrants: 128 (Singles), 64 (Doubles)
• Venue: Paris, France
• Surface: Clay Court
• Prize Money: €34,367,215
• Defending champion: Iga Swiatek

Top Seeds at the French Open 2021

• Ashleigh Barty
• Naomi Osaka
• Aryna Sabalenka
• Sofia Kenin
• Elina Svitolina

Roland Garros women’s singles draw pic.twitter.com/fBiqsxOBr3

— Michal Samulski (@MichalSamulski) May 27, 2021

Women’s Singles Draw Analysis and Prediction

First Quarter

World No.1 Ashleigh Barty will headline the first quarter of the draw and has been handed a very tough draw. She will face Bernarda Pera in the first round. She has been drawn alongside Ons Jabeur and the duo could potentially clash in the third round.

Parma Champion, Coco Gauff is also in the first quarter and will open against a qualifier. She could possibly face Australian Open runner-up Jennifer Brady in the third round and the winner of that match could meet Ash Barty.

In the bottom half of the first quarter, things get even more exciting. Italian Open runner up and 9th seed Karolina Pliskova will face Donna Vekic in the first round and the winner would play the winner of Sloane Stephens and Carla Suarez Navarro, who makes a return after battling Cancer.

In form Karolina Muchova will be playing Andrea Petkovic in the opener and could face Pliskova in the third round. Going further down, Ekaterina Alexandrova will face American veteran Venus Williams in the first round and the winner could face Barbora Krejcikova.

Elina Svitolina is the highest seed after Barty and will face Oceane Babel in the opening round. Svitolina has been handed a fairly easy draw. Her big challenge will come in the Round of 16 where she may face either Karolina Pliskova or Karolina Muchova.

Quarter-Final prediction: Ashleigh Barty vs Karolina Pliskova

Second Quarter

The second quarter of the draw could be the tightest with a mix of in form players and highly ranked ones. Fourth seed Sofia Kenin gets a nightmare first round match. She will face former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in the opener. The winner of the match could possibly face 28th seed Jessica Pegula in the third round.

17th seed Maria Sakkari will open against a qualifier and could go on to face Elise Mertens of Belgium in the third round. Mertens will take on a qualifier in the first round and could face hard-hitting Zarina Diyas in the next round.

In the later half, defending champion has been handed a fairly easy opening week draw. She is to face Kaja Juvan in the first round and is drawn with Anett Kontaveit, a possible third round opponent. Her first major challenge will come in the Round of 16, where she could face 12th seed Garbine Muguruza.

Muguruza will open her campaign against Marta Kostyuk and can face Petra Martic in the third round. Other notable names in the quarter include Kristina Mladenovic, Sara Tormo Sorribes and Shelby Rogers.

Quarter-Final prediction: Jelena Ostapenko vs Iga Swiatek

Third Quarter

The third quarter of the draw has 4 different grand slam winning players. It is headlined by third seed Aryna Sabalenka who faces a qualifier in the opening round. She has been handed an easy draw, with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, her possible third round opponent.

Victoria Azarenka will open against Svetlana Kuznetsova in another mouth-watering opening round match. The winner may go on to face in form Paula Badosa who opens against Clara Tauson. American 23rd seed Madison Keys will face Oceane Dodin in the first round and has been drawn alongside Paula Badosa. The winner of this tight bracket can face Sabalenka in the Round of 16.

The other side of the quarter features 23-time grand slam Champion Serena Williams, who will take on Camelia Begu in the first round. She has a fairly easy second round encounter and then could face 26th seed Angelique Kerber in the Round of 32.

11th seed Petra Kvitova has been handed a very easy draw consisting of two possibly qualifiers in the initial rounds. She could go on to face Serena Williams in the Round of 16.

Quarter-Final prediction: Petra Kvitova vs Aryna Sabalenka

Fourth Quarter

The last quarter of the draw is the most versatile and could deliver some unexpected results early on. World No.2 Naomi Osaka will lead the pack and will take on Maria Patricia Tig in the very first round. She has been struggling with form lately and luckily, she will not have to face a tricky opponent in the initial rounds. The Japanese could possibly face Alison Riske in the third round

16th seed Kiki Bertens locks horns with Polona Hercog initially and could go on to face 2019 French Open runner-up Marketa Vondrousova in the third round. The winner will go to face Osaka to book a Last 8 slot.

Canadian 6th seed Bianca Andreescu is the star attraction in the other half of the draw. She will face Tamara Zidansek in the opening round and has been drawn alongside Veronika Kudermetova- a possible third round opponent. However, the Russian will have to get past tricky opponents in Amanda Anisimova and Katerina Siniakova if she has to book a date with Andreescu.

10th seed Belina Bencic will face last year’s semi-finalist Nadia Podoroska in another huge opening round match. The winner will go on to face 19th seed Johanna Konta who opens against Sorana Cirstea. The winner of the bracket may face Kiki Bertens in the Quarter-finals.

Quarter-Final prediction: Bianca Andreescu vs Kiki Bertens

Quarterfinals

The quarter-finals will kickoff the second week of the tournament in style. Top seed Ash Barty will have to battle past Karolina Pliskova to enter the semifinals. Barty may have a slight edge going into the match but Pliskova won’t make it easy for the Aussie.

In the second quarter-final, Defending champion Iga Swiatek will face former champion Jelena Ostapenko. Both the players have tasted sweet victories at Paris and will be looking to repeat that again. However, Swiatek may just have enough to edge past Ostapenko.

Semi-Final 1 prediction: Ashleigh Barty vs Iga Swiatek

Aryna Sabalenka will lock horns against Czech Petra Kvitova in the third quarter-final. Sabalenka will go in as the favorite to win the match but will be wary of Kvitova’s experience and big-match winning ability.

The fourth semi-final could be anybody’s game. Both Kiki Bertens and Bianca Andreescu are tremendous hitters of the ball and eventually it may come down to who defends well.

Semi-Final 2 prediction: Aryna Sabalenka vs Bianca Andreescu

Semifinals

The first semi-final between Ash Barty and Iga Swiatek may very well be the match of the tournament. The two players have been the best Clay courters this year. Barty defeated Swiatek a month back in Madrid but the tables may turn this time around.

In the battle of youngsters, Aryna Sabalenka will face Bianca Andresscu. The two players played 4 years back in 2017 where Sabalenka won and history could repeat itself once more in Paris.

Final : Iga Swiatek vs Aryna Sabalenka

French Open 2021: Final

The final promises to be the first of many future battles between Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka. This will the their first meeting and hence a degree of uncertainty will spice things up. However, Swiatek will be a betting favorite and is expected to defend her title.

Champion: Iga Swiatek

Also read: French Open 2021: Top 5 Players to Watch Out For (Women’s Singles)