French Open 2021 women's singles preview: Aryna Sabalenka banking on momentum, Iga Swiatek chasing Paris title defence

After its special winter edition, courtesy of COVID-19, Roland Garros is back to its springtime best, and ahead of the 2021 edition of the tournament, there are all manner of storylines to pick through in the women's singles competition. Last year's winner Iga Swiatek will be eager to prove that she's not a one-hit-wonder, whereas World No 1 Ashleigh Barty will be looking to get her hands on another Coupe Suzanne Lenglen for the living room mantelpiece. Naomi Osaka has a lot of naysayers to prove wrong on the red dirt, while Aryna Sabalenka will be hoping that this is the tournament that propels her into the elusive Grand Slam club.

This being the women's singles we're talking about, the only thing that is certain is that nothing is certain, so ahead of the French Open, Firstpost.com takes a look at the draw and (bravely/foolishly) attempts to determine the potential outcome of all four quarters:

First Quarter

During the 2020 edition of the French Open, Ashleigh Barty was halfway through an 11-month COVID-19 hiatus. Essentially, that means the World No 1 missed an entire season's worth of action, but by the way she's been playing lately, you really wouldn't know it. Since her return to the circuit in early February, the Australian has played eight tournaments, and has reached the final on four occasions. Of those four finals, she's won two, namely the Stuttgart and Miami Opens.

Barty has enjoyed considerable success on clay in 2021, and in addition to her win in Stuttgart, she has made it to the quarter-finals of the Charleston Open, the final of the Madrid Open and the quarter-finals of the Italian Open, in which she retired due to an arm injury despite being a set up on Coco Gauff.

Heading into Roland Garros in this kind of form, it wouldn't be wise to bet against the 2019 winner, but still, she has a mountain to climb. She begins her campaign against Bernarda Pera, a match-up that shouldn't cause her too many problems, but in the third round, there's a high likelihood that she will come up against Ons Jabeur, who has built up a reputation of being a tough nut to crack. After that, it's a little harder to predict who Barty could potentially be pitted against, with both Jennifer Brady and Coco Gauff looking like contenders for that spot.

In the other half of the quarter, Elina Svitolina does look like a firm favourite, after posting decent performances in Stuttgart and Rome. Svitolina will also be helped no end by the fact that Venus Williams and Ekaterina Alexandrova will face off in the first round, in what should be a belter of an opening contest. Karolina Pliskova is also in this portion of the draw, but she has put in several disappointing performances of late. Barbora Krejcikova has also given herself a bit of a shout as a dark horse, seeing as she just won a title in Strasbourg.

First-round matches to watch: Yulia Putintseva vs Ons Jabeur, Karolina Pliskova vs Donna Vekic, Ekaterina Alexandrova vs Venus Williams

Potential semi-finalist: Ashleigh Barty

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Second Quarter

Iga Swiatek's win at the 2020 French Open was nothing short of spectacular. The Polish teenager was in awe-inspiring form, and she absolutely blew away each and every one of her opponents, managing to lift the trophy without dropping a single set. Since then, her form has been a little inconsistent, with early exits in Australia, Miami and Dubai, but she's also picked up two more trophies, the more memorable of those coming after a brutal 6-0, 6-0 win over Karolina Pliskova in the Italian Open.

Swiatek will be taking on unseeded players for the first two rounds, after which she could possibly run into Anett Kontaveit in the third. Kontaveit currently has a 2-0 lead in the head-to-head between the two, but both of those wins have come on hard courts, so Swiatek shouldn't be too worried. The fourth round is where it really gets interesting, because Swiatek might have to face 2016 champion Garbine Muguruza, and that is a match-up that's a little too close to call.

Elsewhere, the woman that Swiatek bested to win the title last year, Sofia Kenin, will be looking to make amends for her defeat in the final. But that might be easier said than done. Kenin has had an absolutely terrible beginning to her clay season, losing in straight sets in the only two matches she has played on the surface. To make matters worse for the American, she has a very tricky first-round match against 2017 champion Jelena Ostapenko to begin with, and a hattrick of losses on clay is not all that unlikely. Should Kenin beat Ostapenko, she might have a tough fixture in store in the fourth round, seeing as she is on a collision course with Elise Mertens, who loves playing on clay.

First-round matches to watch: Sofia Kenin vs Jelena Ostapenko, Petra Martic vs Camila Giorgi

Potential semi-finalist: Iga Swiatek

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Third Quarter

When Serena Williams is in the fray, it's hard to make a case for anyone else as a talking point, but heading into Roland Garros, no one in the third quarter has more buzz around them than Aryna Sabalenka. In the build-up to the French Open, Sabalenka made it all the way to the final of the Stuttgart Open where she was beaten by Barty, before avenging that defeat in spectacular fashion by seeing off the same opponent to clinch the Madrid Open title. Her performance in the last few weeks means that she is currently fourth in the WTA rankings, and a good performance in Paris could see that number rise even higher.

That is not to say that it will be a particularly easy task for the Belarusian. She could likely face Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the first week, before a probable fourth-round encounter against Victoria Azarenka. Azarenka herself has a couple of tough matches in store for her, including a first-round encounter with Svetlana Kuznetsova and the possibility of a third-round match against the big-hitting American Madison Keys.

Sweet revenge for @SabalenkaA 💃#MMOPEN pic.twitter.com/VsKoHANx6q

— wta (@WTA) May 8, 2021

In the other half, Serena has a pretty tame draw, with the most pressing concerns in the early rounds being potential match-ups against Angelique Kerber, who has not been in great form of late, and Danielle Collins, who is only just making her return to the circuit after undergoing surgery to address her endometriosis. Later on, in the fourth round, she could face familiar foe Petra Kvitova, who has beaten her on clay before.

First-round matches to watch: Victoria Azarenka vs Svetlana Kuznetsova

Potential semi-finalist: Aryna Sabalenka

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Fourth Quarter

Naomi Osaka is undoubtedly one of the best tennis players around at the moment, but the four-time Grand Slam champion's skills on clay have always, even at the best of times, been a rung below her ability on hard courts. So far, in this clay season, she's not done much to change that fact, losing two of only three matches that she has played, against Jessica Pegula in Rome and Karolina Muchova in Madrid.

This time around, however, there's enough reason for her to finally cast off all the aspersions about her competency on dirt. She begins her campaign against 63rd-ranked Patricia Maria Tig, who is yet to win on clay in a tournament proper in 2021. The most daunting of her potential opponents in the early rounds is Paula Badosa, who is coming off a major title win in the Serbia Open, and could knock out Osaka in the third round.

In the other half, there are a few players that could cause Osaka problems in the quarter-finals, chief amongst which is Bianca Andreescu. Andreescu, who is coming off an abdominal injury that forced her withdrawal in Strasbourg, will take on Tamara Zidansek in the first round, followed by a tough couple of match-ups in the shape of Veronika Kudermetova and Belinda Bencic. Sorana Cirstea also deserves an honourable mention in this quarter, seeing as she made it all the way to the final in Strasbourg, giving her momentum heading into the tournament.

First-round matches to watch: Veronika Kudermetova vs Amanda Anisimova, Marketa Vondrousova vs Kaia Kanepi

Potential semi-finalist: Bianca Andreescu

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