PREVIEW | WTA French Open Roland Garros 2025: Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff as favorites, Iga Swiatek seeks redemption

The 2025 French Open will take place from May 25 to June 7 on the traditional Roland Garros courts, marking the second Grand Slam of the year. It will be brimming with stars, with Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff as the top favorites for the title, alongside four-time champion Iga Swiatek. Nevertheless, it will be an open draw, given the slow court conditions, ripe for surprises.

Some names already have the credentials to upset the top contenders, including the in-form Mirra Andreeva and Zheng Qinwen, or the established hierarchy of players like Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys.

World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka will be fighting for her first Roland Garros title, and she arrives in excellent form, with a title at the WTA 1000 Madrid Open and an 11-2 record on the clay swing. She lost in the quarterfinals to a phenomenal Zheng Qinwen in a somewhat erratic match for the Belarusian, but this result shouldn't cause major concerns after several weeks of consecutive wins and against another significant name on the clay swing. Sabalenka boasts a 34-6 record for the season, in addition to three titles and three other finals. She has reached at least the semifinals in 8 of her last 9 Grand Slam appearances (including five finals and three titles).

However, the other big favorite on her side of the draw is precisely Zheng Qinwen. The Olympic gold medalist from Paris 2024 – notably on the very courts of Roland Garros – comes in after reaching the semifinals at the Rome Open. While she sometimes falters in the midst of deep runs, Paris could bring her good memories.

A potential quarterfinal showdown against Sabalenka would be a litmus test for both, although some players could prevent this interesting battle, with the emergence of Danielle Collins, Diana Shnaider, or Peyton Stearns, among those with strong credentials to go far.

If anyone can challenge Sabalenka's top spot among the favorites, it's none other than Iga Swiatek. The four-time Roland Garros champion – including the last three editions consecutively – hasn't won a title since taking the crown in Paris in 2024 and has struggled with her form this clay swing. However, she remains the Queen of Roland Garros, an ideal setting for her to claim another title. The Pole will fight for her fourth consecutive and fifth career Suzanne-Lenglen Cup, boasting a 21-match winning streak there and an impressive 35-2 record.

Along the way, she could face a potential quarterfinal clash with World No. 4 Jasmine Paolini, the recent Rome Open champion and a finalist in the 2024 edition of Roland Garros. The Italian, without attracting the attention of other stars, has shown consistency in contending for major titles and arrives at Roland Garros with confidence, in addition to an important points defense ahead of her.

There will be tough opponents along the way for both, especially for Swiatek, who could potentially face Emma Raducanu early in the second round, and then Elena Rybakina or Jelena Ostapenko, by far the opponent the Pole struggles against the most.

World No. 6 Mirra Andreeva is a clear contender, with two WTA 1000 titles this season, and reaching the quarterfinals in Madrid and Rome – only falling to Coco Gauff on both occasions. The Russian teenager continues to take strides in her career, and the clay swing has suited her game well, despite some painful defeats.

The Russian is set for a potential quarterfinal duel with World No. 3 Jessica Pegula – perhaps the least in-form of the top-4 – but with a particularly complicated section of the draw. Since the American won the title in Charleston in early April, she has only managed three wins and four losses.

One of the biggest first-round matches will feature No. 10 Paula Badosa against four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka, two players it wouldn't be surprising to see reach the latter rounds. Joining them are former finalists Karolina Muchova (No. 14) and Marketa Vondrousova, and other big names like Daria Kasatkina (No. 17) and Ons Jabeur.

The second seed Coco Gauff leads the bottom half of the draw. She reached finals at the Madrid Open and Rome Open, and while she suffered two painful defeats, she is, behind Sabalenka, the one who can draw the best conclusions from her clay swing. Her credentials in the title fight include recent victories against Andreeva (twice), Iga Swiatek, and Zheng Qinwen, among others. An 11-3 record on the clay swing makes it reasonable to expect the American to reach the final stages of the tournament without difficulty. Gauff already knows what it's like to reach the Roland Garros final, back in 2022, losing to Swiatek.

Madison Keys appears as a potential quarterfinal opponent, should both assert their favoritism and ranking. On the clay swing, she has a 5-3 record, showing a decline compared to what she had done in the first three months of the year, but she is still seen as one of the strong contenders. She could face Sofia Kenin (No. 31) or Emma Navarro (No. 9) during the first week of competition, while Gauff could face the 2022 champion Barbora Krejcikova (No. 15) in a potential quarterfinal.