The 2018 edition of the French Open female category will see a new champion emerge at the Philippe-Chatrier court. The final will see two-time runner up Simona Halep and Sloanne Stephens face off in Saturday’s final. The winner will receive 2000 points as well as the prize money of €2,200,000 in addition to being handed La Coupe Suzanne Lenglen.
Simona Halep returns to the same stage as last year but will be looking to improve on the mental part of her game which surprisingly cost her the title last season. She has suffered a major disappointment in Australia this January losing the Australia Open finals to Caroline Wozniacki. A victory in Paris on Saturday will cement her ranking as world’s number 1 further.
Halep dropped a set in the first round against Alison Riske but she turned it around to ease past the American. She made light work of Taylor Townsend in the second round winning the game in two sets. Andrea Petkovic fell in the third round and Elise Mertens in the fourth. Finally dropped a set in her quarterfinal battle against Angelique Kerber but turned in an impressive performance in the semifinal victory over Garbine Muguruza to book her place in the final. ‘I’m really happy that I could beat a player like Muguruza,’ Halep said afterwards. ‘She’s a great opponent, a great player, and it’s always tough against her. ‘I think I played very well, and even if I repeat it, I played the best match here. So every day I play better and that makes me happy.’
If Halep’s remarkable run to the finals where she dropped two sets was impressive, Stephens went a step better. The world number 10 dropped one set through her matches en route the final. Arantxa Rus was a first round open (6-2, 6-0), she beat Magdalena Frech in the second round in two sets but was taken all the way to three sets and needed a tie break victory over Camila Giorgi in the third round – the only match she dropped a set. Anett Kontaveit was her victim in the fourth round and Daria Kasatkina in the quarters. The all American semifinals between her and Madison Keys (a repeat of 2017 US Open final) was a competitive match but Sloane won in straight sets.
SIMONA HALEP v SLOANE STEPHENS. SAT 09 JUNE 2018. 14.00HRS
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VERDICT
One of these two women will claim their first French Open title on Saturday. Sloane Stephens is already a Grand Slam winner, having succeeded at the 2017 US Open and is looking for her first Grand Slam title in this year. She would become the first American not named Serena Williams to win the French Open since Jennifer Capriati in 2001. Simona Halep has already missed out on the French Open title twice in 2014 against Maria Sharapova and 2017 against Jelena Ostapenko.
Either Stephens or Halep will claim their first Roland Garros title on Saturday. Halep has the edge in the head-to-head between them. She leads 5-2 and has won the last four matches they have played. Could it happen for the Romanian’s this time?