When former French Open finalist Simona Halep was asked to identify the favorites for this year’s tournament, she said there were about 15 possible winners. But now that Halep herself is “50/50” to play the event with an injury and one of the dark-horse favorites, Laura Siegemund, tore her ACL this week on a freak clay-sliding injury, that number might be closer to 25 and could be as high as 40. Seriously.
The main reason for the most wide-open major in recent memory is, of course, the absence of Serena Williams, who will miss her first Grand Slam since announcing her pregnancy.