PARIS — When potential dark horses were being discussed before this year's French Open the name of Carla Suarez Navarro cropped up frequently and she looked every bit a serious challenger with an easy first round win on Monday.
The diminutive Spaniard with a classical claycourt game and killer single-handed backhand dismissed Romania's Monica Niculescu 6-2 6-2 to continue her recent hot streak.
In terms of match wins on the WTA Tour this year she is the leader with and the 26-year-old Canary Islander has reached the quarter-finals or better at 10 of the 11 tournaments she has played in this year.