Anybody can win - Monica Seles feels French Open is wide open this year | Tennis News - Hindustan Times
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Anybody can win - Monica Seles feels French Open is wide open this year

ByOmnisport
May 25, 2018 05:18 PM IST

Predicting this year’s French Open winner is no easy task, says three-time Roland Garros victor Monica Seles.

Monica Seles believes it is a “toss-up” as to who will win the women’s singles title at the French Open this year - and believes as many as 15 players will fancy their chances of glory.

Monica Seles won the French Open women’s singles crown thrice -- in 1990, 1991 and 1992.(Twitter)
Monica Seles won the French Open women’s singles crown thrice -- in 1990, 1991 and 1992.(Twitter)

There were four different winners at the grand slams in the women’s game in 2017, while Caroline Wozniacki backed up her win at the WTA Finals with a major breakthrough at the Australian Open at the start of this year.

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Another spanner in the works at Roland Garros is the return of Serena Williams, who will play a first slam tournament since winning in Melbourne 16 months ago after giving birth to her first child last September.

Jelena Ostapenko proved a surprise winner in Paris last year, upsetting now world number one Simona Halep – who remains favourite with the bookmakers to end her own wait for a major title this time around.

And Seles, who won three of her nine slams in the French capital, is excited by what she expects to be a wide-open tournament.

“I always loved playing the French Open because I grew up playing on clay,” Seles, speaking courtesy of the Laureus World Sports Awards, told Omnisport.

“So, it really held a special place in my heart and I liked the surface, it suited my game. So, every time it was the French Open, I was looking forward to that season.

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“I think this year really is a toss-up [in terms of who can win it]. We saw with the WTA last year and all the four grand slams and the season-ending championships were won by different players.

“This year we saw Caroline Wozniacki break through at the Australian Open which was her first grand slam.

“And, really, I think going into the French you probably have about 15 or so players that if they have a good two weeks, a good draw, then anybody can really win it.”

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