With the French Open set to begin tomorrow, I make my prediction. They will almost surely prove to be incorrect, but I can try!
Women's Semifinalists:
Top Quarter: Samantha Stosur. For a long time, I thought Kuznetsova was coming up out of this section, but the more I think about it, the more I get the gut feeling she will lose. She did have a nice run in Madrid, but the conditions are very different in Rome than in Madrid, and she had an early loss to Gavrilova in Rome, and lost early in Stuttgart too to Siegemund. Stosur got a really nice draw, having two straight-forward matches to start the tournament and drawing a rusty Kvitova as her possible third round seeded opponent, and it's not as if Kvitova loved clay in the first place. Kuznetsova's eighth of the draw also features Wozniacki and recent Nuremberg champion Kiki Bertens, so only one of those players will make it out of that 8th of the draw. In addition, Kerber is playing very pooly, I have her losing to Makarova in the First Round. Stosur played great tennis in Strasbourg, only losing one set all week and beating a few very good players, and I have her in the semis.
Second Quarter: Dominka Cibulkova. I have no clue who will come out of this quarter of the draw. Tons of players have a real shot, including Cibulkova, Venus Williams, Timea Bacsinszky, Daria Gavrilova, Kiki Mladenovic, Annett Kontaveit and defending champion Garbine Muguruza (who plays a former champion in Francesca Schiavone in the First Round, by the way). Former Finalist Sara Errani is also in this quarter, but I'm not sure if she can beat Mladenovic in the Second Round. I have a suspicion that Kontaveit is going to upset Muguruza in the Second Round, as Annett has had a great season. Gavrilova had a tiring week in Strasbourg, and I don't know if Venus still has the fitness to win many clay court matches in a row, especially what should be a war in the Third Round against Gavrilova, so I think the winner of that matches loses to Cibulkova in the Round of 16. Cibulkova has a very straightforward draw to start the tournament, and I just don't think Mladenovic is quite ready for a major semi yet, especially playing someone of Cibulkova's caliber and fighting spirit, in the Quarterfinals so Dominika is my pick to come out of this quarter.
Third Quarter: Carla Suarez Navarro. Another quarter where anything can happen. Halep's injury still worries me, and after what should be a battle against Vondrousova (who I have upsetting Kasatkina in the Second Round) in the Third Round, I don't know how much fight Halep will have left for a potential Round of 16 match against Suarez Navarro. Despite her recent titles, I am not sure Svitolina is a player who can win a grand slam, as her game is often too passive. Madison Keys is a big name in this section of the draw, but she starts with a brutal First Round against Ashleigh Barty. Bouchard could make a run, but her pulling out of Nuremberg makes me hesitant to predict her to go too far in the draw. I think Suarez Navarro takes this quarter of the draw.
Fourth Quarter: Caroline Garcia. Again, I have no idea what will happen here. The three top ten seeds in this quarter are Plsikova, Konta, and Radwanska, and neither of those three play particularly well on the clay. That leaves me with two realistic semifinalists: Caroline Garcia playing in front of her home fans, or Anastasia Pavyluchenkova, who has had a really great clay court season. I expect the quarterfinal match between those two players to be tight, but I think Garcia sneaks out a really tight match. However, I could easily see Pavyluchenkova coming out of this section, that was a really hard match to predict. Other players I could see making a run are Alize Cornet and Coco Vandeweghe, but I just can't see either of them in the Semifinals.
Semifinals: Stosur vs. Cibulkova, Suarez Navarro vs. Garcia
Final: Stosur vs. Suarez Navarro
Champion: Samantha Stosur
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