When the Women’s French Open kicks off it could be argued that there’s never been so much top-end depth in any Grand Slam draw.

The sheer amount of ‘really good’ players all striving to graduate to ‘excellent’ class on the WTA Tour will ensure that some second round matches at Roland Garros will possess a Quarter-Final feel, in terms of how widely spread the talent is in the women’s game at the moment.   

An astonishing 10 different women have shared the last 14 Grand Slam titles, providing great hope to so many of the ‘really good’ players on tour, that their major breakthrough is just around the corner.

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When 19-year old Jelena Ostapenko won the 2017 French Open she was ranked #47 in the world and was yet to win a WTA title of any description. 

The year prior, 22-year-old Garbine Muguruza had won just a single WTA event and despite her being seeded #4 at the tournament, odds as high as $21 were available on her lifting her first Grand Slam trophy.

There’s a high likelihood that the next winner of the Women's French Open will also be someone not necessarily at the forefront of one’s thinking.

FRENCH OPEN SIMULATOR: 10,000 Ways the Women's French Open Could Play Out

With that in mind, here are five excellent outside chances for the clay court Grand Slam:

MARKETA VONDROUSOVA

If you don’t know Marketa Vondrousova by now, you will very shortly. The 19-year-old Czech has been one of the breakout stars in 2019, already boasting a startling 20-4 record on tour this year, including making two WTA tournament finals, where she won the first set in each.

Her transition to the clay courts has been just as compelling where she has a 9-2 record in 2019, including a trip to the final in Istanbul, as well as a Quarter-Final run in Rome, where she knocked over the 'Queen of Clay' herself, Simona Halep.

Yes, this French Open will only be the fourth Grand Slam Vondrousova has ever contested, while an 8W-9L record overall against Top 20 players doesn’t exactly jump off the page. Yet, you can be assured that her resume coming into Roland Garros is significantly more sparkling than what Ostapenko was serving up in 2017.

KEY STAT: Break rate. 

At 46.4%, Vondrousova has the second best break rate on tour, essentially meaning that the young Czech is breaking her opponents serve every second time she’s on the other side of the net. Compelling.

TAB Odds: $34

At the time of writing, the WTA has Marketa Vondrousova ranked #38th in the world, while Stats Insider has her ranked #20th overall in women's tennis, but #9th on the clay courts. See Stats Insider's custom tennis world rankings.

ELISE MERTENS

The rail-thin Elise Mertens has spent the past 18 months firmly entrenched in the WTA Top 20 yet has made relatively little noise while there.

Sure, she’s won four rather minor titles since the start of 2018, which has indeed helped her maintain her lofty WTA ranking (#20th), yet the young Belgian has yet to really make any serious waves on tour with just one Semi-Final appearance at Grand Slam level - achieved at the 2018 Australian Open.

Yet, there’s reason to think Mertens in on the cusp of a big stage breakthrough.

Though Mertens’ 7-22 overall record against Top 20 opposition isn’t great, her progression through to last year’s Round of 16 at Roland Garros was encouraging, as too was her performance in Doha earlier in the year when she proved she could not only claim a decent sized event but also knock off some bigger name opponents in the process.

Consistency isn’t a hallmark of Mertens’ game yet if she can channel what she did in Doha by claiming the scalps of Pliskova, Bertens, Kerber and Halep en route to her championship, then she’s every chance to do something quite significant in Paris.

KEY STAT: Ace rate against. 

Just 2.6% of the serves against Elise Mertens result in aces which places her 8^th on the entire tour in that stat.

TAB Odds: $51

At time of writing, the WTA has Elise Mertens ranked #20th in the world, while Stats Insider has her ranked #16th overall in women's tennis, and #26th on the clay courts. See Stats Insider's custom tennis world rankings.

ARYNA SABALENKA

Aryna Sabalenka is viewed by many as being the next big thing on the WTA Tour. She brings a big game to the court with her bold strokes and a command of the baseline that’s obvious to anyone who’s seen the 21-year old Belarusian play.

Yet, like so many of the promising youngsters on the WTA tour, Sabalenka really hasn’t produced a signature performance so far. As with Mertens above, each of Sabalenka’s three titles have been of the 'Off-Broadway' variety, while like Mertens, Sabalenka boasts just a solitary Round of 16 appearance at Grand Slam level.

Keep a close eye on Sabalenka in this week’s Strasbourg event to get a better gauge of what kind of clay court form the WTA's #11 is in and whether she’s capable of building up some momentum on what isn’t the young starlet’s favourite surface.

TAB Odds: $34

KEY STAT: Second serve points won.

So much of professional sport comes down to what you have up your sleeve. So often, once the main weapon is taken away an athlete is left with little else and becomes much more susceptible to being picked apart. In women’s tennis particularly, the second serve can be a godsend, and in Sabalenka we’re dealing with one of the best on tour. She wins 56.7% of her second serves which is ranked 8^th overall in this metric.

At time of writing, the WTA has Aryna Sabalenka ranked #11th in the world, while Stats Insider has her ranked #21st overall in women's tennis, but just #139th on the clay courts. See Stats Insider's custom tennis world rankings.

PETRA MARTIC

28-year old Croatian, Petra Martic, has one title to her name, and a career-high ranking of #28.

Hang on. Wasn’t this supposed to be about the hopes of genuine French Open contenders?

It is, I promise, bear with me.

While we can all accept those aforementioned numbers aren’t the usual ingredients which go into a deep Grand Slam run, a closer look under the bonnet of Martic’s underlying numbers reveals a player who could be every bit of a puncher’s chance at French Open glory - and at tremendous odds, mind you.

When using the brilliant ranking models at Stats Insider, we can see that despite her pedestrian #31st WTA overall ranking, Petra Martic is actually regarded as the 5^th best player in the world where clay courts are concerned, and you don’t need me to tell you what surface the French Open is played on.

Sure, she’s ranked #40^th and #32^nd on the hard and grass courts according the SI tennis rankings, but it’s on clay where Martic truly shines with an overall win percentage of 60.58% on this particular surface, which is in sharp contrast to her 49.1% win rate on the hard courts.

It is also arguable that Martic has never entered a Grand Slam tournament in better form than she is in now, with a clay title in Istanbul in April, backed up by a Quarter-Final run in Madrid.

KEY STAT: Wins against top ten opponents.

Just three wins from 26 opportunities. If Martic is to make any noise in Paris over the next couple of weeks, she simply must take at least a couple of big-name scalps during the tournament.

TAB Odds: $67

At time of writing, the WTA has Petra Martic ranked #31st in the world, while Stats Insider has her ranked #25th overall in women's tennis, but an incredible #5 on the clay courts. See Stats Insider's custom tennis world rankings.

BELINDA BENCIC

It’s unfortunate that one of the first things that jumps into one’s mind when thinking about Belinda Bencic is injuries.

And while it’s undeniable that injuries have absolutely hampered the kind of progress Bencic’s talent is capable of, hopefully the second thing that pops into your mind with Bencic, is her age.

Having just turned 22 - and already having achieved a career-high world ranking of #7 (as a teenager mind you) - it only seems that just now we are dealing with a healthy Belinda Bencic who is both fit, firing and perhaps ready to make a significant splash at a major tournament.

Bencic began the calendar year barely ranked in the 50's yet has put together one of the most impressive resumes on the WTA Tour in 2019, which has included an incredible tournament victory at Doha where she knocked off four Top 10 opponents consecutively, which was a performance she was able to back up with a brave Semi-Final run at the prestigious Indian Wells tournament in March.

Bencic’s recent transition to the clay court hasn’t been as painful as so many on the tour find it, already making deep runs in both Charleston and Stuttgart, before an excellent campaign in Rome saw the young Swiss make the Semi-Final and take a set off Simona Halep.

Despite never making a Quarter-Final at Grand Slam level, conditions seem excellent for Bencic to do something serious at Roland Garros.

KEY STAT: Break-point conversion.

In tennis, little windows of opportunity open up every now and again, and it’s in these windows where players get their chance to strike - and stamp their authority on a match or tournament. Break-point chances are a perfect example. Bencic converts 50.3% of her break point opportunities on the tour, which is ranked #7th.

TAB Odds: $26

As of time of writing, the WTA has Belinda Bencic ranked #15th in the world, while Stats Insider has her ranked #9th overall in women's tennis, but just #28th on clay. See Stats Insider's custom tennis world rankings.

FRENCH OPEN SIMULATOR: 10,000 Ways the Women's French Open Could Play Out

Now take a look the 5 outsiders who could claim the 2019 French Open men's crown:

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