To most people, if Simona Halep passes them in the streets here over the next fortnight, she will probably be ignored, just another woman going about her business. To Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova, the two favourites for the French Open title, she is the player they fear the most.
That should not be a surprise given that Halep reached her first grand slam final here last year, narrowly losing out to the Russian in a dramatic final. At 5ft, 6in, she is dwarfed by Williams and Sharapova, both in stature and marketing power, but neither underestimate a player whose steely determination has earned her 11 titles in two years and who fears no one.