French Open: Early pop duels threaten: Serena Williams not set

Three-time French Open winner Serena Williams will not be a seeded player in Roland Garros 2018.

This news could cause exciting duels already in the first tournament rounds. The American is currently ranked 453rd in the world rankings.

Before the upcoming French Open, which will start next Sunday, the tournament officials have now announced that Williams will not be seeded in Paris.

The statement states that the seed list is created solely with the current world rankings and no exceptions are made.

A WTA rule gives Williams the chance of a “protected ranking”, which means that the tournament organizers are free to decide whether or not to put a top player who has lost ground in the ranking for health reasons on the seed list.

The tournament in Paris decided against this measure. The WTA is working on a new regulation that top players who had to stay away from the tour for a long time for health reasons will automatically be seated at Grand Slam tournaments again. However, this rule will not come into force until next year at the earliest.

Williams will meet top seeded players in early rounds this year and there will be hot duels at Stade Roland Garros.

The rivals of the 36-year-old would have liked Williams to have been seeded. “Serena is one of the greatest rivals and she deserved a seated position. For a woman it is such a big challenge to return to the tour after a birth. That’s incredible,” said Maria Sharapova during the tournament in Rome.

Williams travels to Paris with great ambitions. Their coach Patrick Mouratoglou said before the start in Roland Garros that his protégé was travelling to Paris “to win”.

But to make the title dream come true, the 36-year-old is now waiting for some hard work.