Former WTA French Open Winners

Published 05/24/2019, 5:56 PM EDT

Follow Us

via Imago

This year there are almost five to six ladies who are involved in the race to claim their first French major title and simultaneously claim the Wolrd Number one ranking. The Fench Open 2019 women’s draw consists of five tennis players who have already won their Roland Garros titles previously. Here’s a list of former French Open winners on the women’s court over the past 15 years.

1. Simona Halep

via Imago

The reigning champion at Roland Garros, Simona Halep pulled off the first Grand Slam title of her career in the French capital last year and joined the list of French Open winners. She reached the finals after defeating two Grand Slam champions, Angelique Kerber and Garbine Muguruza. Later in the finals, she defeated another major champion, Sloane Stephens after losing her first set and declared herself to be the French Open 2018 champion.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

2. Jelena Ostapenko

via Imago

An unseeded tennis player from Latvia, Jelena Ostapenko had put her country on the map when she defeated the third seed, Simona Halep in the finals of the French Open 2017. She turned 20 in the midst of the tournament and became the first player since Gustavo Kuerten (Guga) to win his/her first career title in a Grand Slam tournament.

3. Garbine Muguruza

via Imago

The breeze of Spain, Garbine Muguruza avenged for her 2015 Wimbledon loss to Serena Williams. In Paris, she trounced over the American in straight sets to associate herself in the list of French Open winners. She became the first Spanish woman in 18 years to lift a major title and Muguruza rose to a career-high ranking of World Number two. Unfortunately that year, her thriving clay courter compatriot, Rafael Nadal withdrew from the tournament and Muguruza couldn’t share the champion’s platform with him.

4. Serena Williams

via Imago

In her hoard of tennis titles, Serena Williams has three French open crowns which she gathered in the years 2002, 2013 and 2015. In 2002, Williams dethroned the defending champion, Jennifer Capriati in the semi-finals and toppled over her sister Venus in finals and collected her second major title.

In 2013, Serena defeated Maria Sharapova in finals and joined the list of winning each Grand Slam tournament at least twice. Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, and Steffi Graf had already achieved that record. In 2015, she achieved the score of Grand Slam titles by defeating Lucia Safarova on the Parisian terre-battue. Amongst the French Open winners and active players on tour, she has the highest one of Roland Garros crowns.

4. Maria Sharapova

via Imago

The Russian tennis ace, Maria Sharapova achieved her Career Slam during the French Open 2012 when she defeated Sara Errani in the finals and also regained her World Number one ranking. The same year she won the Olympic silver medal in London. In 2014, in a three-hour long final match, Sharapova defeated Simona Halep to lift her second French Open title and the match was declared as the best women’s finals in recent years.

5. Li Na

via Imago

Her French Open 2011 victory is often referred to as the victory of Asian tennis. Li Na became the first Grand Slam singles champion from Asia. She defeated the defending champion, Francesca Schiavone and her victory was witnessed by 330 million people all over the world as she became one of the French Open winners. 

6. Francesca Schiavone

via Imago

In 2010, Francesca Schiavone became the first Italian Open to win a Grand Slam singles title. She defeated the Australian, Sam Stosur in the final. Stosur was expected to be the champion as she defeated the four-time French Open champion Justine Henin, Serena Williams and Jelena Jankovic en route to her final.

7. Svetlana Kuznetsova

via Imago

The Russian champion, Svetlana Kuznetsova was fortunate enough to win her French Open title alongside the Swiss, Roger Federer. She defeated the top-seed, Dinara Safina in the finals to lift her second Grand Slam title and became one of the French Open winners. 

8. Ana Ivanovic

via Imago

The Serbian, Ana Ivanovic was considered as one of the favourite faces in WTA tennis. In 2007, she made it to the finals at the French Open by defeating Sharapova in less than an hour in the semifinals and lost in the finals. However, she made up for her 2007 loss and pulled off the French Open 2008 title by defeating Dinara Safina in straight sets in the final and simultaneously rose to World Number one ranking.

9. Justine Henin-Hardenne

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

via Imago

The four-time French Open, Justine Henin-Hardenne has the best single-handed backhand in both the women’s or men’s game. Her first French Open and major title came in the year 2003 when she defeated her compatriot, Kim Clijsters in straight sets. And she was the first Belgian ever to win a Grand Slam singles title. Later went on to win the title 2005, 2006 and 2007.

10. Anastasia Myskina

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

via Imago

The Russian, Anastasia Myskina won her only Grand Slam at French Open 2004. She defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova by saving match points in the pre-quarterfinals, then defeated Venus Williams and Jennifer Capriati and then trounced over her compatriot Elena Dementieva in finals and became one of the French Open winners. 

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :

Written by:

Mahalakshmi Murali

1,909Articles

One take at a time

Mahalakshmi Murali joined EssentiallySports in 2018 as a tennis author and has gone on to pen more than 1800 engaging articles, probing into various aspects of the sport and its illustrious players. With her expertise on the sport, Mahalakshmi has interviewed stalwarts from the sport such as Serena WIlliams’ coach Patrick Mouratoglou and Kevin Anderson’s physio, Carlos Costa. Equipped with her vast experience and a keen understanding of the sport, Mahalakshmi now co-heads the tennis department.
Show More>