The more compelling matches on Day 5 of Roland Garros are in the women's draw. That's one of the benefits of the wide-open state of the WTA, which started the week fielding half a dozen women who could end up with the No. 1 ranking by the time the red dust settles on Court Philippe Chatrier. Here are three matchups Thursday that should prove interesting:
Serena Williams, the former champion and now ranked No. 451, is playing her first post-baby Grand Slam. Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
No. 451 Serena Williams vs. No. 17 seed Ashleigh Barty (Williams leads series 1-0)
These women both know a thing or two about comebacks, although theirs could not have been more different. Williams is newly returned to the tour at age 36 after giving birth last September. Barty, once a prodigy, left the tour, burned out at age 18, to try her hand at pro cricket in her native Australia. She returned to the tour in February 2016.
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Williams needs to avoid an emotional letdown after getting through the jitters and surviving the general pressure of her first match in Grand Slam play since late January 2017. She was able to raise her game at the most crucial of times in her first-round win over Kristyna Pliskova, and logged other promising stats: a plus-4 differential in winners-to-unforced errors (29-25), a 75 percent success rate in net points and an 80 percent winning percentage when she put her first serve into play.
Barty has a great head for tennis and so much variety in her game that in her early days on the tour she was often compared to Martina Hingis. A pro since age 14, she won the Wimbledon junior title shortly after she turned 15. But significant singles success eluded her, partly because she's just 5-foot-5. Since her return, she reached a career-high ranking in January of No. 16.
Williams must be wary of Barty's assortment of spins and drop shots as well as her solid forehand. Barty, 6-4 on clay over the past 52 weeks, will try to jerk Williams all over the court and tire her out, something she was unable to accomplish in their only previous meeting. But that was long ago and far away, on the Australian Open hard courts. The slower clay will afford Barty more latitude in trying to pry open Williams' game.
Prediction: Williams should be able to hit through Barty, but she needs to keep the match short.
This promises to be a real barnburner between two of the most charismatic and fan-friendly women on the WTA tour. Who can forget the "Petko dance," or the time Mattek-Sands arrived at the Wimbledon players' party dressed as a ... tennis ball?
The careers of both women have been significantly affected by knee injuries. While Petkovic, who's 30, has been relatively healthy for some time now, Mattek-Sands, 33, is in the midst of an aggressive comeback from a dislocated kneecap and ruptured patellar ligament, suffered at Wimbledon last year.
The previous matches between this pair have been very close, the best of them a second-round 2010 US Open clash won by Petkovic, 7-5 in the third set. Mattek-Sands won their only meeting on clay, in the qualifying for Madrid in 2013. Both women play aggressively from the baseline, with Mattek-Sands -- a terrific doubles player -- more eager to get to the net to finish points.
Prediction: This one is a toss-up.
Simona Halep, twice a runner-up in Paris, is looking to figure out what it takes to finish the French Open as a champion. Chaz Niell/Icon Sportswire
No. 1 seed Simona Halep vs. No. 72 wild card Taylor Townsend (Halep 1-0)
You couldn't blame Townsend if you caught her wandering around humming the words from that old chestnut, "I love Paris (in the springtime)." Nor could you fault Halep for wondering what it will take for her to finally crack the Roland Garros code. Townsend is a respectable 4-3 in Paris despite never having been ranked higher than No. 130 going in until this year. Halep is a two-time runner-up who muffed a lead of a set and a break against first-time Grand Slam finalist Jelena Ostapenko in last year's final.
Townsend has a fascinating game. She isn't a great mover, but she has marvelous hands and an innate feel for the ball as well as the ebb and flow of a given point. Her clay-court record lately has been excellent: She's 18-3 since the start of Charleston, and that includes her first-round win at Roland Garros. Townsend returned well in that match, winning 38 percent of the points when Myrtille Georges put her first serve into play.
A comparably sharp return game will help Townsend against Halep, who isn't the most intimidating server on the tour. But Halep, who overcame a sleepy start to roll through Alison Riske in her first match, is one of the most gifted when it comes to retrieving, rallying and counterpunching. That means Townsend will have to find ways to keep the match from becoming a track meet. She held her own for the better part of a set in their only previous meeting, a straight-sets win for Halep in 2017 in Cincinnati.
Prediction: Halep in straight sets; she's just too steady and quick on the clay.
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