Veteran French tennis star Marion Bartoli named current women’s world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty the favorite to lift the title at Roland-Garros this year. Barty, who missed the entire leg of last season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, already has three Tour titles, including the prestigious Miami Open, to his name this year.
Ashleigh Barty missed her second clay court title this year in Madrid The 26-year-old Australian has had a phenomenal season on clay, playing two finals and winning one in Stuttgart, Germany.
However, in a rematch of the Stuttgart final in Madrid, the seeded lost in three sets to Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka. Carrying his dazzling streak from Madrid and before, Barty reached the quarter-finals in Rome.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDAS1ncEDSY But all hopes of lifting her second clay court title this year were dashed into thin air after she retired midway through her round of 16 clash against Coco Gauff with injury.
He was leading by one set and 2-1 in the second when he retired. The Australian also recorded a quarter-final final earlier in Charleston.
When asked to name her selections for the French Open crown during a virtual conversation with tennismajors.com, Marion Bartoli named the 2019 champion as her top favorite this year, saying the slow surfaces at Roland-Garros would allow the Australian to demonstrate her full range of shots.
The 2013 Wimbledon champion said that if Barty can get back in shape and shooting, he could be a handful for her opponents in Paris. “Once he’s up and running and in good physical shape, his game and variety are very difficult for his opponents to counter.
I think a slower pace will allow him to use all his shots, ”said Bartoli. However, he also tipped American teen tennis sensation Coco Gauff to have a hot streak at Roland-Garros.
“You could see a player like Coco Gauff, maybe, have a breakthrough,” Bartoli said. Gauff has also had a remarkable clay-court season, registering quarter-finals and semi-finals in Charleston and Rome before lifting the singles and doubles titles at WTA Parma.
