Katie Boutlter faces off against Paula Badosa and Yulia Puinttseva goes up against Sloane Stephens in the round of 128 at the Women’s French Open. Damien Kayat previews.
2024 WTA Tour – Grand Slam Tennis
French Open
Stade Roland Garros
Selected Ro128 Matches – 28 May 2024
Katie Boulter 26/10 | Paula Badosa 2/7
Brit Katie Boulter is enjoying her best season on the WTA Tour, winning the biggest title of her career at this year’s San Diego Open. But the Brit has divebombed recently, struggling to come to terms with the clay as she competes in the main draw of clay-court events for the first time in her career.
She suffered early exits in Madrid and Rome, going out of both events to players ranked outside the top 100. Eish! She did take down Clara Burel in the Billie Jean King Cup for her one clay-court victory of the season.
Boulter’s game really hinges on her strong first-serve and she doesn’t tend to get much purchase for it on clay. But she has enjoyed a rare injury-free season. The Brit has openly admitted that clay isn’t her strong suit but she did train on the sticky stuff during the Covid lockdown. Maybe she could spring a few surprises this year.
I think I have been somewhat guilty of following the entire ‘Badosipas’ relationship with too much zeal. I almost feel guilty in admitting that I was secretly pleased when I heard they had rekindled their romance.
But that’s why we love tennis, for the little narratives that help give these huge championships meaning. Badosa will be hoping that her positive romantic news will help give her Roland Garros prospects a boost.
The former World No.2 has been plagued by injuries these past few seasons but has been showing a few signs of life in recent events. She was forced to withdraw from an epic round of 16 clash with Sabalenka in Stuttgart and she recently pushed Gauff to three sets in Rome.
A quarter-finalist here back in 2021, Badosa clearly has the pedigree to thrive in these conditions. But her notoriously unreliable body always makes her a risky proposition at best.
Verdict: Badosa to win in straight sets 7/10
This will be their first career meeting. Badosa just possesses too much quality on these surfaces to go out to Boulter. The Brit- despite her best efforts- looks like she is in quicksand when she sets foot on clay. I think Badosa’s body will probably hold out for the first week of this year’s Slam.
Yulia Putintseva 72/100 | Sloane Stephens 21/20
My two longshot options to compete at this year’s French Open have been drawn to face each other in the first round of this year’s championships, with the vastly improved Yulia Putintseva coming up against tournament specialist Sloane Stephens.
29-year-old Kazakh Yulia Putintseva has improved tremendously since hiring Matteo Donati towards the end of last season, rediscovering that brand of in-your-face cockiness that came to define the early part of her career.
She followed a round of 16 run in Miami with back-to-back quarter-finals in Miami and Madrid. A quarter-finalist in this event back in 2016 and 2018, the Kazakh is a strong baseliner who looks to dictate rallies with her devastating forehand.
She can get frustrated into forcing the issue at times and has the tendency to leak unforced errors if her game wobbles.
It’s easy to label Sloane Stephens as something of a disappointment. The 2017 US Open champion and 2018 Roland Garros runner-up just hasn’t been able to forge a consistent place for herself in the upper reaches of the game.
To be frank, her extremely defensive counterpunching approach just started to feel outdated in this age of power-based tennis. Nonetheless, Stephens has still managed to maintain a pretty sensational record in this specific event. She has reached the fourth round or better in nine of her previous eleven appearances, obviously fishing runner-up all the way back in 2018.
She has also tasted victory on clay this season, winning the inaugural staging of the Open de Rouen. Her form has fallen off quite badly since then but she will feel confident to be back on these surfaces. She uses her athleticism to chase down lost causes and she will always offer stubborn resistance out there.
Verdict: Stephens to win in three sets 42/10
This has actually been a very intense and closely fought rivalry, with the Kazakh currently edging the American 4-3. She eased past the American when they recently met in Rome. However, it was the American who won their only previous French Open encounter, seeing off the Kazakh in a fiercely fought three-set match last season.
Putintseva will look to be the aggressor while Stephens will look to counterattack when possible. And I think I give the American the edge purely due to her strong Roland Garros form. Stephens has won an impressive 74% of her career matches here and I think she will once again find a way. But this could be a seesaw affair and I might be tempted to go for over 22.5 games at 11/10.
