Roland-Garros 2012 French Open Women's Seeds

The official list of the Roland Garros 2012 French open women's seeds will only be published later this week, but it is safe to assume that the top 32 in the WTA women's rankings this week are going to be seeded. The top two ranked players in the world - Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova are going to be distributed into the top and bottom half of the draw. The next two seeds - world no. 3 Agnieszka Radwanska and no. 4 Petra Kvitova will then be randomly assigned to either the top half or the bottom half.

To achieve a more balanced draw, it may seem logical to have Radwanksa assigned to Azarenka's half, and Kvitova to Sharapova. That will ensure that the Wimbledon champion Kvitova and Australian Open champion Azarenka are in opposite sides of the draw, but it would certainly contain an imbalance of some sort as Azarenka has beaten Radwanska six times this year already. We don't want a predictable semi-final, if both players do make it that far, so let's stick to hoping that Kvitova get assigned in Azarenka's half. Besides, Sharapova has won three major titles already, and though the last one was one in 2008, it is to everyone's benefit that she be assigned in the same half as Radwanska where the Pole can have at least a realistic shot for the finals.

The next four seeds are going to be scattered opposite the four top ranked players. They are Serena Williams, Samantha Stosur, Na Li, and Marion Bartoli. This is a good bunch of players who have fifteen Grand Slams between the four of them. Bartoli, the lone player without a major in this group, is considered the weakest link although she did reach a Grand Slam final in Wimbledon 2007. It's best to assign her against Sharapova, the most in-form player of the top four. Serena, undoubtedly the favorite to win the whole thing, is best paired against Radwanska, but we don't want a Serena - Sharapova semi (that is best reserved for the finals), so we get to assign her against Kvitova.

The next two quarterfinal pairings will thus have at least a match-up of current Grand Slam champions. Between Li and Stosur, the Australian is best paired with Azarenka, and defending champion Li can be assigned to become Radwanska's quarterfinal opponent. So now, we have finalized the top eight pairings, and it comes out to be:

Top Half: Azarenka vs Stosur; Kvitova vs Serena
Bottom Half: Sharapova vs Bartoli; Radwanska vs Li

Now that we review the above, it seems that the top half is way too tough because of three current Grand Slam champions including world no. 1 plus 13-time Grand Slam champ Serena, but based on current form, this placement seem very balanced actually. The next step, assigning the no. 9 to no. 16 seeds is challenging especially with no. 9-seed and the former no. 1 Caroline Wozniacki. Wozniacki and no. 10-seed Angelique Kerber are probably the best players in this group, and should be assigned to the two weakest top eight players. Kerber is best assigned to Bartoli, while Wozniacki should be assigned against Radwanska.

The two weakest links in this group, no. 11-seed Vera Zvonareva and no. 15-seed Andrea Petkovic are best matched up against the strongest players in the top 8. Both players are really in bad shape and may not even make the round of 16. Zvonareva should be positioned against Serena, and Petkovic against Sharapova. The rest of the players can be randomly assigned to Azarenka, Kvitova, Stosur and Li.

WTA Women's Tennis Rankings as of May 21, 2012

1 Azarenka, Victoria BLR 9020
2 Sharapova, Maria RUS 8390
3 Radwanska, Agnieszka POL 7080
4 Kvitova, Petra CZE 6275
5 Williams, Serena USA 5695
6 Stosur, Samantha AUS 5440
7 Li, Na CHN 4965
8 Bartoli, Marion FRA 4870
9 Wozniacki, Caroline DEN 4586
10 Kerber, Angelique GER 3560
11 Zvonareva, Vera RUS 3440
12 Lisicki, Sabine GER 3012
13 Ivanovic, Ana SRB 2975
14 Schiavone, Francesca ITA 2940
15 Petkovic, Andrea GER 2921
16 Cibulkova, Dominika SVK 2635
17 Kirilenko, Maria RUS 2475
18 Hantuchova, Daniela SVK 2355
19 Vinci, Roberta ITA 2320
20 Pennetta, Flavia ITA 2315
21 Jankovic, Jelena SRB 2260
22 Safarova, Lucie CZE 2215
23 Errani, Sara ITA 2050
24 Pavlyuchenkova, Anastasia RUS 2021
25 Kanepi, Kaia EST 1980
26 Cetkovska, Petra CZE 1955
27 Goerges, Julia GER 1945
28 Kuznetsova, Svetlana RUS 1931
29 Petrova, Nadia RUS 1850
30 Peng, Shuai CHN 1800
31 Medina Garrigues, Anabel ESP 1775
32 Barthel, Mona GER 1762