Paris
Spaniard Garbine Muguruza, second seed Karolina Pliskova and Williams all fit the bill when it comes to hitting the ball hard
World number two Simona Halep stands out as the clear favourite to win this year’s rescheduled French Open, bucking a recent trend of wide open women’s singles draws at Grand Slams.
Since Serena Williams took a break in 2017 to give birth to her daughter, there has been no standout player who has dominated the women’s game.
Romanian Halep has been in red-hot form and the absence of top-ranked Australian Ash Barty, who won her maiden Grand Slam in Paris last year, and US Open champion Naomi Osaka, will boost her chances further.
Halep decided to skip the hardcourt swing in the United States due to concerns over the Covid-19 pandemic and concentrated on preparing for the claycourts at Roland Garros. —Reuters
