French Open: Top 5 contenders for the women’s singles title

Paris is once again decked up as its biggest tennis festival has arrived. There’s feverish excitement all around to see who will reign supreme at the French Open two weeks from now.

Undoubtedly, the World No. 1 and defending champion Serena Williams is the hot favourite yet again. Who can be her biggest challengers? We present the top five contenders for the women’s singles title:

#1 Serena Williams

World No. 1 Serena Williams endured one of her longest barren starts to the season as she took five months to win her first title of 2016. But now with her fourth crown in Rome, the 34-year-old is relaxed, hungry and is looking every bit the unanimous favourite in Paris. And that can be a recipe for disaster for the other French Open contenders.

With two-time winner Maria Sharapova’s suspension, the list of women who can realistically win the trophy is scanty. And with Serena back on track and looking doubly motivated to end her Slam drought, it won’t be unreasonable to envisage her with her 22nd Major at this very venue in a few days’ time.

However, there’s a record that Serena needs to be wary of. Every time that she went on to capture the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen, she has never managed to defend it successfully the next year. In 2003, she fell to eventual champion Justine Henin in an infamous semi-final while in 2014, she slumped to an incredibly one-sided defeat to Garbine Muguruza in the second round. This time though with more experience and much less pressure, she could be far less stressed out in pursuit of glory.

2016 Draw: She does have her fair share of hurdles if she wants to grab her fourth title. There is danger in the form of Victoria Azarenka in the quarter-finals and Angelique Kerber in the semi-finals.

French Open performance:

Best result: Champion (2002, 2013, 2015)

Last year: Champion