TennisSection previews the 2021 French Open as Serena Williams (7) meets Irena-Camelia Begu in the First Round on Monday May 31st, 2021.
Can seventh seeded Serena Williams finally claim her record-equaling 24th Grand Slam singles title here at the 2021 French Open? Or will Romanian Irena-Camelia Begu spoil the party and claim the shocking upset? The American legend will undoubtedly be fired up as she seeks to match Margaret Court, can she go all the way here at Roland Garros 2021?
Serena Williams is currently ranked #8 in the WTA world rankings, and is seeded seventh here at Roland Garros 2021. There is not much more to be said about the American, she is truly a superstar and is considered by many to be the greatest player that has ever lived. For all of her many achievements, she has desperately been trying to equal the record for the past few years without much success. While she is not quite the dominant player that she once was, she is still a very dangerous opponent and should be considered to have an outside chance of winning the title here. She has been in poor form on the clay, even losing early on in a Challenger Event in Parma a few weeks ago. Her once dominant serve and groundstrokes are a bit slower and her once-elite movement is now average, but she is a highly experienced and intelligent player and is the massive favorite to win this First Round match against Irena-Camelia Begu here at the 2021 French Open.
Irena-Camelia Begu is currently ranked #74 in the world rankings and is tasked with playing the legendary Serena Williams in the First Round of the 2021 French Open. The Romanian can be considered a clay court specialist, as 15 of her 20 ITF titles have come on this surface. However, this is a whole different level on the WTA Tour, and while she started the year strongly by reaching the Quarter-Finals at the Phillips Island Open, she has been in terrible form since. Begu has in fact failed to win a match since that showing, and even lost in the Qualifying Rounds at the Italian Open. She enters Roland Garros 2021 with her confidence low, and will be the underdog here in her match against Serena Williams.
This will be the second time that the two players have faced each other on the WTA Tour, and Serena Williams leads their head to head 1-0. They played each other in the 2016 Rome Semi-Finals on clay, with the American winning comfortably, 6-4, 6-1. Although Serena has not been in good form recently, I expect her to dominate this match here at Roland Garros 2021. Her opponent Irena-Camelia Begu simply does not have the firepower needed to trouble Williams, and I expect this match to be over relatively quickly. Serena will be fired up here as she seeks to win the title, and she will win easily here, advancing to the Second Round at the 2021 French Open.
Free Tennis Pick and Prediction: Serena Williams to win in straight sets.
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