French Open 2022 Women’s singles draw: Preview and prediction – Who can stop in the indomitable Iga Swiatek?

The women’s singles draw comprises 128 players, as announced on Thursday evening in Paris, 12 of whom are former Grand Slam winners, and five of them have lifted the coveted Coupe Suzanne Lenglen at the Stade Roland Garros. But unlike the men’s singles draw, the women’s category has only one, just one outright favourite for the title – Iga Swiatek, who heads into the 2022 French Open not just as the No.1 ranked and seeded player, but on the back of an incredible winning streak – 28 matches across five tournaments. Hence the question, is there anyone that can stop the indomitable Iga at Paris?

FIRST QUARTER:

When Ash Barty announced her retirement earlier this year, she had admitted that “there is no better person” to take over the reins in women’s tennis than Swiatek. The Pole completed the elusive Sunshine double in March and assured herself the No.1 spot in the WTA ranking the following Monday and Swiatek has remained undefeated ever since. Her 28-match unbeaten record, which is the fourth-best in this millennium, comprises five titles, two of which came on clay – Stuttgart, and Rome.

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The sheer dominance of Swiatek has been the cynosure of women’s tennis since the start of this year, which naturally puts the 2020 French Open champion as the clear favourite for her second title in Paris. Her unbeaten run comprises seven wins over top-10 players, 13 bagel sets and she dropped just five sets. But the weight of expectation, of maintaining this streak is what could stand as a hindrance for the youngster. Just as Novak Djokovic, who had talked about the weight of expectation after his shot at becoming the first man in the Open Era to win each Grand Slam at least twice was snapped by Rafael Nadal in 2020 French Open final.

Swiatek may not have someone of Nadal’s stature in her quarter, let alone her draw, but there are a few players who could pose a threat for the 20-year-old. Only three players have gotten the better of Swiatek in 2022, and one of them is part of the first quarter – Jelena Ostapenko – who had stopped her in Dubai. And between her and Simona Halep, a former French Open champion, could pose a threat to Swiatek in the fourth round. But a more immediate threat, a projected third-round meeting, would be Liudmila Samsonova, the only player who had taken a set of Swiatek on clay this year.

Quarter-final: Swiatek defeats Pegula

SECOND QUARTER:

The only two players who could pose a threat for Swiatek and stop her bid for a second Roland Garros title find themselves in the second quarter – Paula Badosa and Aryna Sabalenka. Although, both haven’t quite come close to even inflicting a damage to Swiatek’s run in 2022. The third-seeded Spaniard has been a dominant force on clay, with a 7-2 record in Paris which includes a run to the quarterfinal last year, but she is yet to face Swiatek in 2022. Sabalenka, on the other hand, has been comprehensively beaten by the Pole thrice this year, two of which came on clay, and all were in straight sets.

However, the two will look to build up that steam over the course of their run to the quarters before they possibly take on Swiatek. Badosa is likely to face Veronika Kudermetova in the third round and Madison Keys in the fourth while Sabalenka will await a possible fourth-round meeting with Danielle Collins.

Quarter-final: Sabalenka defeats Badosa

THIRD QUARTER:

This part of the draw is filled with interesting possibilities with Tunisian trailblazer Ons Jabeur as the favourite. The 27-year-old has reached three finals in four events which includes a maiden WTA 1000 title in Madrid and heads to Paris on the back of an impressive 17-3 record on clay. Her run also included 11 unbeaten matches across Madrid and Rome before she fell to Swiatek in the Italian Open final. However, for the sixth-seeded player to make the quarters, she has to navigate past two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova and one between Angelique Kerber and Emma Raducanu, both former Grand Slam winners.

Her only big threat in the quarter is Maria Sakkari, who might have struggled in 2022 since reaching the Indian Wells final in March, but had reached the semi-final in French Open last year.

But she too has been handed a tough draw as she finds Naomi Osaka, Belinda Bencic, Bianca Andreescu, Amanda Anisimova and Karolina Muchova all in her section of the quarter.

Quarter-final: Jabeur defeats Sakkari.

FOURTH QUARTER:

In 2021, world no. 33 Barbora Krejcikova had capped off a surprising run to her maiden Grand Slam singles title, in Paris. And while the Czech should have been the big name alongside Swiatek for the 2022 tournament, there has been little or no discussion about the defending champion as she will be heading into the competition with no clay-court experience this season owing to the elbow injury that put her on the sidelines since February. She has a possible Sloane Stephens tie in the third round, who had finished as the runner-up in 2018, and a projected game against Victoria Azarenka in the pre-quarters. Two other big names from the quarter are No 5 seed Anett Kontaveit and 2016 champion Garbiñe Muguruza.

Quarter-final: Azarenka defeats Kontaveit/Muguruza

Semi-final: Swiatek defeats Sabalenka and Jabeur defeats Azarenka

Final: Swiatek defeats Jabeur