Defending champion Iga Swiatek will most likely have to beat her nemesis Jelena Ostapenko as well as Jasmine Paolini, Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff if she is to successfully defend her French Open crown.
Following her shock early exit from the Italian Open, Swiatek dropped to No 5 in the WTA Rankings and was always in for a tough draw in Paris.
The four-time champion, who will face Rebecca Sramkova in the first round, has landed in the top half of the draw along with world No 1 Sabalenka and fourth seed Paolini.
If the Pole gets past Sramkova, then she will face either Emma Raducanu or Xinyu Wang in the second round while a last-16 encounter against Ostapenko could await.
Raducanu and Wang – currently at No 43 in the rankings – will meet for a second career meeting with the latter in Linz in 2021.
Meanwhile, 2017 French Open champion Ostapenko has a 6-0 head-to-head record against Swiatek, including two wins so far in 2025.
WTA News
Emma Raducanu told to hold ‘moderate’ French Open expectations by former world No 2
Iga Swiatek is in a ‘vicious circle’ and went through ‘a very complex emotional state’
But the Latvian herself has a difficult path as she will most likely have to beat 2022 Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina – who has a nightmare opener against Belinda Bencic – en route to the fourth round.
Italian Open champion Paolini is the highest-ranked player in the quarter and projected to meet Swiatek in the last eight. The fourth seed starts against Yuan Ye, but could face 13th seed Elina Svitolina in the fourth round.
Three-time Grand Slam winner Sabalenka is the top seed and she starts against Kamilla Rakhimova before a potential showdown with Danielle Collins in the third round.
Sabalenka is also projected to meet 16th seed Amanda Anisimova in the fourth round, eighth seed Zheng Qinwen in the quarters before a possible clash against Swiatek.
Rising star and main draw debutant Alex Eala faces Emiliana Arango in the first round and could meet Zheng in the second round.
Bottom Half
World No 2 Gauff headlines the bottom half and will face Australian Olivia Gadecki first up while she is projected to meet the injury-hit Barbora Krejcikova, who has played only one match so far this campaign, in the fourth round.
If Gauff reaches the quarter-final, then she could meet Madison Keys as the reigning Australian Open champion leads Section 7. But Keys could be involved in a different all-American match in the round of 16 as she is projected to meet ninth seed Emma Navarro.
Jessica Pegula and Mirra Andreeva are the other top seeds with the former leading Section 6 and Andreeva in Section 5.
Third seed Pegula faces Anca Todoni in round one and could face 14th seed Karolina Muchova in the fourth round while sixth seed Andreeva starts against Cristina Bucsa.
The 10th seed Paula Badosa is also in Andreeva’s section and she has a difficult opener against four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka.
Projected Quarter-Finals
Sabalenka v Zheng
Paolini v Swiatek
Pegula v Andreeva
Gauff v Keys
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