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5. Sloane Stephens (Age: 23 years, Rank: 21)

Sloane Stephens has had a strange season so far, vacillating between highs and lows like a pendulum. She has won three titles, one of which came on the green clay of Charleston.

But other than that, there has been nothing noteworthy as she has inexplicably slumped early in the rest of the tournaments, going a dismal 2-5.

If she keeps up that trend of alternating between a good and a bad performance, she is due for a memorable run in Paris as she lost very early in her last two events at Madrid and Strasbourg. On a serious note, why Sloane can be expected to make an impact is because the clay of Roland Garros always brings out the best in her.

This is the only Slam where she has not lost before the fourth round for each of the last four years. Her smooth strokes and athleticism simply come alive at this venue.

There is no reason why she cannot emulate that. The only threat the 19th seed can receive in the first week is from the 2012 runner-up Sara Errani who has not been at her best and Sloane, if she remains calm, can definitely cross that hurdle.

About the author

Sudeshna is a veteran Indian Sports and International Tennis journalist as well as editor at Sportskeeda. She has an overall experience of over 10 years with top publications like The Bridge, Fox Sports Asia, and gained a keen interest in Indian sports since the 2002 Commonwealth and Asian Games when she was in school.

Sudeshna holds a Master's degree in Journalism and Mass Communication. She attends tournaments regularly and being a highly experienced journalist, she ensures she only contacts the correct people from her network for the most authentic information to be put in her articles.

Sudeshna’s favorite Indian athlete is PV Sindhu owing to her big-tournament performances. She also admires Tennis legend Rafael Nadal for his resilience and has witnessed the Spaniard in action at the French Open, due to which, Roland Garros is her all-time favorite Grand Slam tournament.

Neeraj Chopra’s gold medal win at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics made a lasting impact on Sudeshna. She has also interviewed him along with Badminton star Chirag Shetty and several other sports personalities. She has done on-ground reporting on multiple ITF tournaments along with the Premier Badminton League, Asian Boxing Championships and the Davis Cup.

When not using her skills and years of experience in crafting compelling content, Sudeshna likes to read, watch movies and travel.

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Edited by Staff Editor