In just a few weeks the biggest clay court matches will take place at Roland Garros with that being said tennis fans are dying to know who will take home the trophy and title of champion in this year’s women’s singles final.
The rankings are always changing on the women’s side with most recently Marketa Vondrousova moving up to sixth and Qinwen Zheng moving up to seventh while the top five stay the same.
Rankings can help factor in who could be the winner at the French this year, but it doesn’t tell the whole story.
For starters, WTA world number one Iga Swiatek has been dominating the tennis world with her quick playing skills and how she can play well on all surfaces. Although she can play well on all surfaces, Swiatek is a clay court specialist, and a 3x Roland Garros champion in 2020, 2022, and 2023. The 22-year-old has proven to be one of the greatest clay court players now having eight clay titles, most recently being the Madrid Open. She will be one of the finalists, and if she doesn’t win she will give the other finalist a run for her money.
Another player to look out for is the American Coco Gauff. Gauff is currently 20 years of age and ranked third in the world. She has proven this past year that although she may be one of the youngest, she never goes down without a fight. In the 2023 season, Gauff won the Cincinnati Masters, and a week later won her first Grand Slam at the US Open against Sabalenka. Gauff is a hard court specialist but still puts up a fight on clay. The best she has done in the past at the French was making it to the 2022 final against Swiatek. Currently, she is in the semi-finals at the Italian Open.
Danielle Collins and Carolina Gracia are also contenders for the title. The 30-year-old, Collins, has recently announced she will be retiring at the end of this year, but most recently Collins won two back-to-back titles at the Miami Open and Charleston Open. The Charleston Open is a clay court tournament that proves to have the skills to take home this win. Carolina Gracia is native to France which means she will have the crowd on her side. Although she hasn’t been playing as well recently, she made it into the quarterfinals at the Roland Garros in 2017, while for doubles she has won 2 grand slams at the French Open. Both of these players would be the underdog, but they would by far make waves in the brackets.
Aryna Sabalenka, 26 years of age, is a force to reckon with on the courts with her fiery personality, but also her game. Sabalenka is a powerful player with a great forehand, backhand, and serve. She is currently ranked second in the world and constantly proves why she is. Sabalenka has won 2 clay court titles including the Madrid Open in 2023, in a third set against Iga Swiatek. Although she has never won a past French Open, she did make it to the semi-finals, but unfortunately lost to Karolina Muchova, who will not be playing this year. She did take runner-up at the Madrid Open this year against Swiatek, but it can predicted she will be in this year’s finals.
Each of these players has a chance to make noise at the Roland Garros this year, but in the end, it can be predicted that we will see Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka in the women’s singles final. Now none of this is set in stone, and things may change based on the draws, withdraws, and other factors that cannot be foreseen. Overall, the players on this list are people to keep in mind when looking for a great match at this year’s French Open.
