Ranking the Top 10 Women's Players Heading into 2016 French Open Tennis

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Serena Williams hits a running forehand during a match at the 2016 Rome Open.

The 2016 French Open ^[1] women's top seeds reflect the volatility in the rankings this season on the WTA Tour.

Serena Williams ^[2] is the only player in the Top 10 who has the same WTA ranking heading into Roland Garros this year as she did in 2015. She's No. 1.

Williams and Simona Halep are the current top 10 players who were top seeds at the 2015 French Open.

So of course they made this list of the Top 10 women heading into Roland Garros.

This list ranks players based on their recent matches, standings in singles, the WTA's Road to Singapore race and the WTA's Clay-Court Power Rankings ^[3], which uses data from clay-court play over the past three years.

Petra Kvitova missed the cut. Although Kvitova comes in at No. 4 on the WTA's clay-court power rankings, she's dropped to No. 12 in the singles and is No. 31 in the Road to Singapore.

Venus Williams ^[4], who will be seeded ninth, also failed to make the list. Clay is her worst surface, and she didn't even rank among the 30 best clay-court players over the past three years.

A couple of players ranked outside the Top 10 did make this list. To see who they are, check out the Top 10 women's players heading into the French Open.

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Timea Bacsinszky hits a forehand during a match at the 2016 BNL d'Italia.

Timea Bacsinszky reached the semifinals of the French Open last year. She receives honorable mentions along with Carla Suarez Navarro.

Both are solid clay-court players, but missed the mark for different reasons.

Bacsinszky is ranked No. 9, seeded No. 8 at Roland Garros and is No. 13 on the clay-court power rankings list. She's done well on clay, but not against the top players.

Suarez Navarro is No. 6 on the clay-court power rankings and is No. 5 on the road to Singapore. She gets an honorable mention instead of a top-10 ranking here because she's slipped to No. 14 on the WTA rankings. She also has had an underwhelming clay-court season so far.

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Svetlana Kuznetsova hits a forehand during a match at the 2016 Rome Open.

Svetlana Kuznetsova ^[5] is a perplexing two-time Grand Slam champion. Winner of the 2009 French Open champion, Kuznetsova moves as well as anyone on the clay. She was runner-up at the 2006 French Open. She reached the semifinals in 2008, and she advanced to the quarterfinals for additional times.

The only time she lost in the first round was her in first appearance in 2002.

It's just hard to tell which Kuznetsova will show up. Will it be the aggressive player who goes for her shots and lands them? Or will error-prone, ball spraying Kuznetsova show up?

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Madison Keys serves during the final of the Rome Open.

Madison Keys surprised many with her clay-court form in Rome. She plowed through the field to the final where she lost to Serena Williams.

Keys served six aces in her first two service games and had Williams bewildered. After losing the first set in a tie-breaker, Keys wilted; but it was the first glimpse at potential clay-court prowess.

One of the biggest hitters on tour, Keys has a game that seems better suited for grass or hard courts. Yet she's No. 10 on the clay-court power rankings.

She heads into this year's French Open with confidence, something she's lacked in the past.

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Lucie Safarova hits a forehand during a match at the 2016 BNL d'Italia.

Lucie Safarova is ranked No. 5 in the clay-court power rankings and was a finalist in last year's French Open.

Due to a bacterial infection ^[6], Safarova lands at No. 8, below her composite ranking.

She was hospitalized and missed months away from the tour. Since her return early this year, she's slowly regaining her form.

She told the New York Times ^[7]' Christopher Clarey, "I had a long career...And finally I'm figuring everything out, doing so well and being at my best, feeling like yeah I'm finally enjoying the moment and then this comes like out of nowhere and then you are just wondering why?"

With a new-found appreciation for life on the tour, maybe Safarova will get it all back just in time.

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Roberta Vinci slides to make a play on the ball at the 2016 BNL d'Italia.

Roberta Vinci, 33, has said that this might be her last season ^[8] on the tour, according to Sports Illustrated. Maybe that's why she's playing like there's no tomorrow.

After upsetting Serena Williams at the 2015 U.S. Open, Vinci has risen to a career-high No. 7.

However, despite having a game suited to clay, Vinci didn't even make the clay-court power ranking. Her best Grand Slam results have come at the U.S. Open.

She's playing her best tennis this year. If this is indeed her last year, maybe she'll blow out with a Slam title, just like her friend Flavia Pennetta.

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Agnieszka Radwanska hits a forehand in Stuttgart.

Agnieszka Radwanska is ranked No. 2 and is No. 4 on the Road to Singapore. So why is she No. 6 on this list? She comes in at No. 20 on the clay-court power rankings, and Roland Garros ^[9] is not her friend.

Last year, she was knocked out in the first round. She reached the quarterfinals once in 2013.

You'd think someone with such defensive skills would fare better on clay.

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Simona Halep hits a forehand during a match at the BNL d'Italia.

It's hard to believe that Simona Halep came within one set of winning the 2014 French Open ^[10]. That year she lost a marathon three-setter to Maria Sharapova ^[11].

A talented clay-courter, Halep won the French Open as a junior. She also won Madrid this year. Her biggest opponent might be her nerves. When she plays fearless, she's tough to beat.

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Garbine Muguruza serves during a match at the 2016 Rome Open.

Garbine Muguruza, 22, has had a lot of success at Roland Garros for someone so young. In 2013, her first appearance in the main draw, she reached the second round. In 2014, she upset defending champion Serena Williams in the second round and went on to reach the quarterfinals. She returned to the quarterfinals last year.

Perhaps Muguruza learned a few things from her doubles partner Suarez Navarro.

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Victoria Azarenka hits a forehand during a match at the 2016 BNL d'italia.

Victoria Azarenka ^[12] has never reached the finals at the French Open. After winning Indian Wells and the Miami Open back to back, she had more momentum than any player.

She seemed destined to challenge Williams at No. 1. That was until she retired from a match ^[13] in Madrid due to a back injury. It's another unfortunate setback.

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Angelique Kerber hits a backhand during a match at the 2016 BNL d'italia.

Angelique Kerber is No. 3 on the clay-court power ranking list and No. 3 on the tour. She's No. 1 on the Road to Singapore. She comes in at No. 2 because she's the most recent Grand Slam winner, and she's had so much recent success on clay.

Like most first-time Grand Slam winners, Kerber struggled with the new-found attention at first. Now she seems focused and determined to prove that she's more than a one-Slam wonder.

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Serena Williams poses with the trophy after winning the 2016 BNL d'italia.

Serena Williams has played most of the latter part of her career knowing everyone expects her to win every match. It's a burden and a blessing. The burden includes the pressure that comes with having a bullseye on your back.

The blessing is that such a status affirms how dominant a player she's been over the years. Even though she went nine months without a title, nobody took her lightly — they never will.

Williams got some of her mojo back when she won in Rome. Will it be enough in Paris?

She told the Associated Press (h/t ESPN), "Four tournaments and three finals is not bad for everyone else, but I'm not everyone else...I want to win more than most people -- ever."^[14]