French Open 2014: Top Challengers to Serena Williams at Roland Garros

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: May 22, 2014

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Even at age 32, Serena Williams stands head and shoulders above the rest of the women's tennis field. Williams remains the top-ranked singles players in the world, and with a win at the Italian Open she appears primed to defend her French Open crown.

However, if there's a major where Williams is vulnerable, it's the French. Williams has won just twice at Roland Garros, easily her worst performance at any grand slam. With six different champions the past six years, the French Open is the most likely major to see a dark-horse winner.

So which women are the most likely threats to derail Williams from repeating?  Here's a look at the best candidates to rule the clay over the next two weeks.

 

Maria Sharapova



Sharapova has been terrific for the majority of the clay court season, with a pair of tournament wins in Germany and Spain. However, her undefeated streak came to an end at the Italian Open, as she suffered a shocking 6-4, 6-1 third-round defeat to Ana Ivanovic. The loss was rare for Sharapova, who has dominated clay over the past three years:



Even with the loss Sharapova has to remain among the small handful of favorites. After advancing past the quarterfinals just once in her first eight tries at Roland Garros, Sharapova has posted a semifinal appearance, win and finals appearance the last three years. As USA Today's Chris Chase notes, part of that improvement stems from her ability to wear opponents down:

How did it happen? Sharapova didn’t all of a sudden become a graceful mover on the court. It’s not as if she watched countless hours of Bjorn Borg tapes and tailored her game to win on tennis’s slowest surface. Her footwork has improved, but she’s not sliding all around the court like Nadal in his prime.

The easiest answer is that she simply learned how to win on clay. Whether that’s because ...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis

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