THE Lyon Open will be headlined by Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin who will be hoping to keep her winning momentum rolling. Three of the top four seeds are all from the host nation – France so expect the home crowd advantage.

FAVOURITE:

Sofia Kenin (USA)

It is hard to go past Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin with the American ranked as the number one seed heading into the competition at Lyon and with form on her side should be the overwhelming favourite. Kenin has proven that she is capable of just about anything, downing world number one Ash Barty in her quest for victory at the Australian Open and standing up to the pressure in her debut grand slam against Garbine Mugurza. At 21-years old the American has plenty left in her with her best years well and truly ahead of her. The Russian born American can be inconsistent on the serve at times dishing up 26 aces but also recording 29 double faults an area she will be hoping to clear up before the tournament. Her ability to win points off her first serve are up there with a 66.9 per cent winning rate. Kenin retains her service games winning an impressive 79.2 per cent of games and while her accuracy drops on the second serve she still sits above 50 per cent making her a real threat to take out the title.

CONTENDERS:

Kristina Mladenovic (FRA)

France’s Mladenovic comes into the tournament as second seed and rightly so with the talented right hander able to cover the court well and use her experience to exploit her younger opponents. Mladenovic has not won a title since 2017 and will be hoping to rectify that in this tournament with a strong showing against the likes of young up and coming star Kenin. Currently sitting at 37 in the world, Mladenovic will be hoping to use her smarts to outplay her competition. The Frenchwoman is slightly unreliable on the serve with 32 aces for the year so far but her work on the return is impressive winning 40.2 per cent of opportunities that come her way. Coming off a loss in the Round of 16 in the Dubai Championships Mladenovic will be wanting to make a real challenge here.

Caroline Garcia (FRA)

The 26-year-old has had a hot and cold start to 2020 winning a couple of matches and dropping others. The local girl will be hoping to make up for her performance against Bernarda Perna in the Qatar Open and come out with some real intensity throughout the tournament. Garcia has made it as high as seventh and while she is only just inside the top 50 sitting at 46 in the world she holds the third ranking for this tournament. She has only played seven matches so far but has showcased her skill and power on the serve with 36 aces. The Frenchwoman has a strong record when it comes to service games won sitting at 70 per cent while her accuracy on the first serve is relatively high winning 64.2 of first serve points.

Alize Cornet (FRA)

Cornet is in hot form coming off a solid performance at the St Petersburg Ladies Trophy and making it all the way through to the Round of 16 before getting knocked out by Greece’s Maria Sakkari. Cornet has not progressed through to the final stage of a tournament in years and will be hoping that all changes at Lyon given her impressive form. At 30 she is coming towards the twilight of her career but still has plenty to give when it comes to her determination and class across the court working hard to make it to every ball and return serve. she has won 42.5 per cent of return points in 2020 with her skill off the second serve causing her opponents the most damage with a winning percentage of 53.6.

ROUGHIE:

Daria Kasatkina (RUS)

The 22-year-old comes in at seventh seed showing just how much promise and excitement she brings to the tennis court able to impose herself with her natural ability. The Wildcard had to work hard just to make her way into the main draw but has shown she has plenty of grit making it through to the Quarter final of the Qatar Open. The Russian has struggled on the serve recording 40 double faults since the beginning of the year but is strong on the return winning 61.1 per cent of points off the second return serve. She has made it as high as 10 in the world a feat she will be hoping to recapture with some strong form in this tournament.

DARK HORSE:

Greet Minnen (BEL)

The Belgian youngster is an exciting prospect and while she sits at 103 in the world could quite easily progress up the ranks with a couple of hard fought victories. She is yet to win a title but never say never given her recent form at Qatar highlighting her ability to push players to great lengths making it through to the Round of 16. Minnen has not had a lot of court time meaning she should be well rested and raring to go with her strong first serve on full display.