WTA French Open Preview

FRENCH OPEN NEWS & NOTES

*We won’t see a repeat champion in Paris on the ladies’ side this year with Siniakova-Gauff serving last year as a superb one-off pairing. They won the titles as the 5th seed and were huge 1.42 (-238) favorites in the championship match. They defeated (11)Errani-Paolini 7-6, 6-3. That ended a string of two straight years at Roland Garros where the final went three sets.

*Three set matches were in relatively short supply with only 14 of the 61 finished matches needing a third set to settle. It was a big drop from 22 three set matches in 2023. Last year, five of the three setters came in round one with five more in round two. Both semifinals also went the distance, marking the fourth time in five years that at least one semifinal went three sets.

*Seeds have been nearly perfect at avoiding first round losses the last two seasons. Only one seed has gone out in round one with ZERO seeds losing early in 2024. The women’s draw has seen fewer seeded losses early compared to the men with only nine in the last five years as you’ll see below.

*Where seeds seem were more prone to early losses last year was round two. Last year, five seeds went out in round two. That included top seeds Hsieh-Mertens. Speaking of top seeds, it has not paid to be the #1 seeds in Paris in recent times. Over the last six years, the number one seeds have not made it past round three. That included two round one defeats. You have to go back to 2017 to find the last time that the top seeds made it to the final. That year Mattek-Sands/Safarova won the titles.

*Unseeded pairs have infiltrated the business end of the French Open fairly regularly of late. Last year, half the quarterfinal field was unseeded, but only one of those pairs advanced to the semifinals (Kostyuk-Ruse). It’s been ten years since the semifinals didn’t feature an unseeded pair. Last year’s win by a seeded pair ended a two year run of unseeded champions with Garcia-Mladenovic winning in 2022 and Hsieh-Wang in 2023. It’s a decent shot that an unseeded pair may be sniffing a final with five of the last eight finals starring one.

*With some of those early losses, underdog hits came with some juicy prices in 2024. There were 15 total underdog wins. Of those, four came at 3.00 (+200) or better. The three biggest hits came at 5.92 (+492) when (6)Kichenok-Ostapenko fell in round two. The second largest score for the dogs came in round three as (4)Krejcikova-Siegemund fell to Olmos-Panova who were at 4.85 (+385). The defeat of top seeds Hsieh-Mertens resulted in the third highest number at 4.66 (+366) with that also coming in the second round. The other hit above the 3.00 mark was in the third round as (2)Melichar-Martinez/Perez lost to (16)Kato-Kichenok who were listed at 3.38 (+238) for the match. Keep your eyes peeled on seeds in round two. Recent history in Paris says that’s where you’ll find those juicy bites.

*Form may not be as key an indicator of potential success as I laid out in my MENS PREVIEW. We remember that Gauff and Siniakova had never paired prior to Paris in 2024. 2023 champions Hsieh-Wang had only played twice prior to winning. If we are talking form then certainly last year’s runners-up Errani-Paolini are worth noting. They had just been treading water since winning the Doha titles in February, going 2-5 prior to Rome. There they reeled off five straight highlighted by wins over Andreeva-Shnaider and an in-form Kudermetova-Mertens. They’re the other form team right now. Since reforming in Madrid in April after not pairing since 2022, they’ve won eight of ten. They made, but lost both finals in Madrid and Rome. There won’t be many lining up to want to play them.

THE UNSEEDED MENACES

With the variety of teams that have made deep runs in Paris over the last five years or so, it’s going to be smart to pay attention to the unseeded field this year. Here’s a look at the pairs that stick out as dangerous.

Hunter-Perez
I’ve been waiting for these two to jump off and they did at least have a nice run to the semifinals in Rome last time out. The Aussies made the semifinals in Italy, but were thoroughly outclassed by Kudermetova-Mertens in their loss. I still feel like they’re going to get better and they are not an easy first foe for (5)Muhammad-Schuurs. They Aussies may go home early, but if they break out with a win, then there is a chance they could be in for a quarterfinal push.

Fernandez-Putintseva
Listen, they won’t likely ever match their Cincinnati Cinderella run to the finals last year, but they usually are in just about every match they play. Their two losses in their three clay court matches came in super tie breaks with the last one being to eventual Rome champs Errani-Paolini (10-7). Their early draw looks wide open, so this could be a team to watch.

Garcia-Parry
Garcia announced this past week that she was calling it a career after this year’s French Open. She’s won the doubles titles at Roland Garros twice, in 2016 and 2022. This duo paired at least year’s Olympics and looked promising, losing in round two to the eventual gold medalists Errani-Paolini 5-7, 6-3, 10-8. That was their first time teaming up, so I’m not worried about their lack of play. And much like with Mahut on the men’s side, Garcia is bound to have tremendous crowd support this week.

Alexandrova-Stearns
Another team short on experience, but explosive as far as early results. They’ve only played Miami and Madrid this year, going 3-2 with four of those matches ending in super tie breaks. They defeated Ostapenko-Perez in Miami and lost to the wunderkinds Andreeva-Shnaider in a super tie break. They split their two matches in Madrid. Kudermetova-Mertens are likely to see them early, so their stay may be short, but I do think it will be a battle that could produce a surprise.

Azarenka-Routliffe
This pair could be an absolute draw demolisher. They open against Errani-Paolini. While they have not paired together, both have had plenty of success on the doubles court. Obviously we’re used to seeing Routliffe with Dabrowski, but it’s Azarenka who is the key here for me. She played a lot of doubles in her early days, but it’s been phased out as she’s gotten older. She’s only played two tournaments over the last two seasons with her first 2025 action coming with Krueger in Madrid. They made the semifinals. It’s Azarenka’s first doubles match at a Grand Slam since 2023 when she paired with Haddad Maia to make a quarterfinal run. If they get the early upset, they’re a contender.

ONE AND DONE WATCH

Will the run continue with seeds nearly perfect over the last two years in Paris? There has only been that one seeded loss back in round one in 2023. History is meant to be broken though, right?

(2)Errani-Paolini
I just wrote about their clash with Azarenka-Routliffe above. The Italians have the form, but there are two quality opponents coming at them. We won’t know if they have any chemistry until the ball is served, but they could be a bad matchup for some pairs in this draw.

(5)Muhammad-Schuurs
I talked about this opener against Hunter-Perez early on in the UNSEEDED MENACES section. Their Aussie opponents are solid and the seeds have been up and down. In Rome, they were UP with a quarterfinal loss to Kudermetova-Mertens. They have dropped two of their last four openers with their Rome starter needing a super tie break for survival. It suggests they’re likely to let the unseeded pair hang around and that’s always flirting with danger.

(12)Mihalikova-Nicholls
The seeds are 1-6 on clay this year with opening match losses in five of six tournaments played. They do have the benefit of playing Noskova-Tauson in round one, a team that beat 6-4, 6-2 in Miami. That was on a hard court though, so maybe clay makes it closer this time, especially with the seeds short on confidence.

(16)Kato-Sutjiadi
They get Garcia in her farewell appearance in doubles. The seeds have played here before and made the third round back in 2023. That loss is now part of a seven match losing skid for them on clay with an 0-5 mark in 2025. It’s pretty easy as such to put them on the list with Garcia-Parry looking to score an early victory.

DRAW PREVIEW

Click HERE for the women’s draw

TOP HALF

First Quarter
Siniakova-Townsend lead the way as the top seeds in this quarter. They are playing their first tournament together since Miami. They’ve been dominant at 15-2 with the Australian Open titles of course being the centerpiece of their season. This will be their first action on clay since they played Rome last year. I think their draw should afford them time to shake off any potential rust. Babos-Stefani are the seeds in their path first if both win out to round three. That pairing won the titles in Strasbourg, but only had to play two matches due to withdrawals. They had been dumped out in their opening match in the two previous tournaments on clay. The seeds may seem the best option in their section, but watch out for Kalinina-Xu in round one. That may be a tight one.

In the other half of the quarter, (5)Muhammad-Schuurs and (10)Jiang-Wu are your seeds. I already laid out the difficult start with the 5th seeds against Hunter-Perez. If they can survive though, it could be the start of a solid run. Jiang-Wu showed they can win on clay in Strasbourg with a semifinal run scoring their first wins on the surface this swing. They started the year very strong on hard courts, but have been less consistent since March. Watch for Linette-Pera if there is a dark horse unseeded pair. The 2022 French Open semifinalists have been victims of harsh draws the last two years losing in round one to doubles Slam specialists Kostyuk-Ruse in 2023 and in round two to Errani-Paolini (7-6, 6-4) last year. If someone springs a surprise over the seeds for a quarterfinal spot, it just might be these two. There isn’t a top tier or experienced Grand Slam success story in their path this time.

Is it Siniakova-Townsend and then everyone else? You have to say yes just on what they’ve done in 2025. I think the Australian Open champs will be satisfied with the early draw allowing them to round into form, rather than being pressed right away. It would be shocking for them to go out any time before the quarterfinals and realistically, probably just as big if they don’t make the semifinals

My Favorite: Siniakova-Townsend
My Sleeper: Hunter-Perez

Second Quarter
Hsieh-Ostapenko roll into Paris perhaps without a lot of eyes on them. Sure, they are Grand Slam champions together and seperately with other partners, but they’ve been beatable on clay so far. They went 4-2, but were shock losers to Cirstea-Kalinskaya in the Madrid final and then thumped by Kudermetova-Mertens in Rome; 7-5, 6-2. They still look the part of top choice in this quarter. Melichar-Martinez/Samsonova are the seeds opposite of them in the top half. That pair has been super competitive at 3-3 on clay, winning against the likes of Krawczyk-Pegula, Muhmmad-Schuurs and Siniakova-Zhang. Sign me up to see the seeds go head to head in the third round. I think that would qualify for BANGER ALERT status. I wouldn’t count out MM-Samsonova if that is the case.

In the other half of the quarter, it’s Kenin-Kichenok and Khromacheva-Stollar as the two seeds. I think both need to be alert early with potentially risky round one matches. Kenin-Kichenok play Joint-Kalishnikova who won the titles in Rabat on clay, which was their first tournament together. This is an uptick in level for them however in facing Kenin-Kichenok, so it will be interesting to see if they are up for the challenge. The winner of that one seems likeliest to be in round three. Khromacheva-Stollar get Wang-Zheng in round one, a team I’d like better if this was hard courts. They are 0-3 on clay this year albeit with most of those being against the bigger names in doubles. Khromacheva-Stollar will come in feeling good after winning titles in this same city earlier in the month. It was their first tournament together, so the chemistry shone though.

The one floater duo to watch for is Eikeri-Hozumi in that bottom half. Remember that they pulled off one of the great stunners in beating Krejcikova-Siniakova in 2023 in the opening round. They continue to be competitive on this surface now and I think aren’t far off in quality from the seeds. For me, the Hsieh-Ostapenko half looks like where this draw might produce a semifinalist. I see them and Melichar-Martinez/Samsonova both stronger than the seeds in the other half.

My Favorite: Melichar-Martinez/Samsonova
My Sleeper: Eikeri-Hozumi

BOTTOM HALF

Third Quarter
This quarter may just give the wunderkinds (4)Andreeva-Shnaider their path to being on the door step to a Grand Slam final. The other seeds in this half are Dolehide-Krawczyk, Mihalikova-Nicholls and Kato-Sutjiadi. In current form, there’s none in that group that hold a candle to the Russians. Andreeva-Shnaider remain a force with five semifinals and two finals among their results in seven tournaments in 2025. Their half may actually wind up putting them up against a crowd favorite if some upsets work out. This is where Caroline Garcia is in the draw with Parry. They could meet Andreeva-Shnaider in round three.

In the other half, Dolehide-Krawczyk and Mihalikova-Nicholls are your seeds. Dolehide-Krawczyk got the band back together in Charleston after starting the year with different partners. They got off to a great start by going to the Charleston final. Since then? The wheels have come off a bit with opening match losses in Madrid and Rome. Danilovic-Panova are first up and while I did not put them on the one and done watch, that match may be tricky. Mihalikova-Nicholls have struggled to win on clay (1-6), so even with Noskova-Tauson questionable to produce great tennis consistently, round one could be a fight. I still look at Fernandez-Putintseva as spoilers in this section. They’d see Mihalikova-Nicholls in round two if both win. I think they’re as good as the seeds in this part of the quarter.

Anyone who follows me during the season knows that I am big on Andreeva-Shnaider. I still think the Grand Slam final is coming for them sooner, not later. This draw is set up to get them within an eye last of just that possibility. If they’re on their game, who is up to snuff in this quarter to challenge them? I’d still say the retirement tour of Garcia might be the biggest challenge to the Russians. Emotion and a home crowd can do wonders.

My Favorite: Andreeva-Shnaider
My Sleeper: Garcia-Parry

Fourth Quarter
2024 runners-up, Errani-Paolini, will prove right away whether their Rome run was simply home soil lifting them out of a slump or if they are back to be every-week challengers. It’s Azarenka-Routliffe in round one. It is hard to go against the Italians at Roland Garros given what they achieved here last year at the French Open and the Olympics. I think they survive, but it might be really, really close. The big worry would then likely be the seeds closest to them, Siegemund-Haddad Maia, in round three. They’re 13-6 and have been tough all year against the best of the best. Their one clash with Errani-Paolini came in Beijing in 2024, a super tie break win for Errani-Paolini. If I am looking for a pair to keep that seeded clash from happening, Azarenka-Routliffe in round one really look like the one, massive speed bump in the way.

The other half has (6)Kudermetova-Mertens as the lead seeds along with (9)Chan-Olmos. Kudermetova-Mertens looked like they hadn’t lost a step when they came back together a few weeks ago after a long multi-year absence playing together. I do think Alexandrova-Stearns are ones to watch as trouble makers. Chan-Olmos have been competitive on clay, but I don’t think Kudermetova-Mertens would be a good matchup for them. So for me if there’s a stopping point early in this section for the 6th seeds, it would be Alexandrova-Stearns in round two. That pair has really shown well in limited play this year, so I would expect that they can keep things close against everyone in this section, even Kudermetova-Mertens.

I don’t think this quarter is all about Errani-Paolini and Kudermetova-Mertens getting a replay of the Rome final. I mean who wouldn’t love to see it though? I’d be looking at the revenge factor for Kudermetova-Mertens playing a role. Siegemund-Haddad Maia are always on my list on unseeded menaces and they could fill that part again this tournament. I do have a hard time looking past a seed getting out of this quarter, but that Azarenka-Routliffe pairing might be one that I’d like to see prove me wrong.

My Favorite: Kudermetova-Mertens
My Sleeper: Siegemund-Haddad Maia

CLOSING TIME

If we’re looking outside the box at an unseeded champion to join the recent list, it would pay to look at one that has big match experience. Garcia-Parry would obviously be that given Garcia’s Grand Slam resume. And even though she’s only seen one Slam final, the pairing of Hunter-Perez also sticks out in that vein. Both have played big matches for their country and in Hunter’s case, she was a regular at one point in seeing in Slam quarterfinals and semifinals. The third name I’d throw out is Azarenka-Routliffe. They’re probably the longest shot of that bunch given their lack of reps together plus a brutal opening draw.

As far as seeds, it seems daft to go against Siniakova-Townsend. Siniakova has won multiple Slam titles two of the last three years and has been in three of the last four Grand Slam doubles finals. Their draw does nothing to go against thinking you can rack up at least another final to her resume this time in Paris. My other seeded option? I mean if you didn’t guess I’d say Andreeva-Shnaider, have you been reading? I like the way their quarter sets up and even if they have to go through the likes of Errani-Paolini or Kudermetova-Mertens, I’ve been clamoring for it and I think this is the time. They broke out here a year ago at the Olympics and they could at least match that achievement of making a major final this time around.

PIG PIX

Siniakova-Townsend
Andreeva-Shnaider
Garcia-Parry