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In a draw of 128 players, which players could pull off a plot twist or two at this year’s French Open? WTA Insider takes a look at the young and the restless who will reside between the biggest seeds in the forthcoming draw:

The Americans: Typically overlooked at this time of year, Internazionali BNL d’Italia runner-up Madison Keys leads a talented team of Americans who can definitely do some damage on the dirt. Keys unlocked her clay court potential last week in Rome as she found her timing and maintained her patience through a winning week in the Eternal City, outlasting Petra Kvitova and Garbiñe Muguruza en route to the final.

.@SloaneStephens receives a BIG surprise in Episode 3 of @DDFTennis' “Always Full of Surprises!” ?https://t.co/Got3BfEqZ3

— WTA (@WTA) April 27, 2016

It’s hard to predict exactly what will come next with Sloane Stephens, who has risen to the highest of highs – winning three titles – and sank to the lowest of lows – going 1-4 at the first three Premier Mandatory tournaments and Australian Open – in 2016.

The French Open, however, has been her haven for consistency, reaching the fourth round in four of her five appearances – defeating Venus Williams and pushing sister Serena to three sets last year. Stephens has made a career out of saving her best tennis for the biggest stages, and will certainly feel she has something to prove next week in Paris.

Irina Falconi won her maiden WTA title this season on red clay in Bogota, while Christina McHale is coming off a second straight quarterfinal finish in Rome.

18 Americans – including Madrid semifinalist Louisa Chirico, who qualified for the main draw on Friday – are set to face off at the French Open – the most of any nation.

The French: Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic have soared to new heights as a pair, riding a 15-match winning streak through three titles in Charleston, Stuttgart, and Madrid. Apart, they’ve largely struggled to translate that success to singles, but both Garcia and Mladenovic are in the semifinals at the Internationaux de Strasbourg, making up two-thirds of the largest French representation in the final four of a WTA tournament since 2006 at the Paris Indoors.

Garcia made her breakthrough in Paris as a teenager in 2011, getting within two games of defeating Maria Sharapova. Mladenovic won the title as a junior, and upset Eugenie Bouchard en route to the third round last year. The latter lin particular has looked buoyed by a bump in confidence in Strasbourg, building on a second round win over Alison Riske, which she won a in a third set tie-break, to looking all business in the quarterfinals against Alla Kudryavtseva.

Ranked in between the two is Alizé Cornet, who flew into the fourth round for the first time in 10 previous French Open appearances last year. The veteran enjoyed a fast start to 2016 with a title in Hobart, but while a back injury has slowed her since, she will likely be appointment television should she headline one of the show courts to start the week.

Pauline Parmentier reached the quarterfinals in Strasbourg this week with a win over Stephens, and beat Roberta Vinci to reach the fourth round in 2014.

The Romanians: Simona Halep reasserted her presence as one of the biggest names in tennis this spring, and not a moment too soon, as her countrywoman were right at her heels for most of the clay court season. Irina-Camelia Begu took the only set Halep would lose in Madrid, pushing the former World No.2 to three sets in the quarterfinals.

Begu backed up that result – where she also ousted Muguruza in three grueling sets – in emphatic style a week later in Rome, reaching her first career Premier 5 semifinal.

Monica Niculescu may prefer the faster courts, but she nonetheless had a strong start to her clay court swing, defeating Garcia and holding a pair of match points on Petra Kvitova in Stuttgart. Edging into the seeds at No.31, her unique ground game could cause problems for whomever she may face in her opening rounds.

Sorana Cirstea qualified for the main draw and is a 2009 quarterfinalist in Paris – defeating former No.1 Jelena Jankovic that year – and was one of four Romanian women to reach the last eight in Madrid. Along with Chirico, Cirstea is among the most dangerous qualifiers a big name could face.

The Dashas: Two of the most compelling counterparts since Jane Austen’s Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, Daria Kasatkina and Daria Gavrilova are a pair of dynamic characters who have proven to be highly capable on clay.

Kasatkina is the embodiment of “sense.” The teenager has, with the swiftest of prudence, built up quite the resumé in her still young career. Looking to reach a third straight Grand Slam third round, the Russian reached the quarterfinals of the Volvo Car Open, falling to Stephens from match point up.

Another junior French Open champion, Kasatkina employs excellent court sense and a heavy topspin forehand that could reverse the blips she endured in Rome and Madrid.

Gavrilova, by contrast, is “sensibility” incarnate. The emotional Aussie began the year with a bang, roaring into the round of 16 at the Australian Open with a thrilling win over Mladenovic in the third round. Rebounding from a slump that started in the Middle East, she upset Kvitova to reach the quarterfinals of Madrid and battled past Halep in Rome, where she reached the semifinals a year ago.

Gavrilova finds herself unseeded, while Kasatkina is in the Top 32 for the first time in her career; might both carve out a happy ending in Paris?

Click here to keep up with WTA Insider’s pre-French Open coverage!

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.

PARIS, France – It was another rainy day in Paris on Day 6 at Roland Garros, but the Round of 16 is set. On Saturday, the favorites continued to deliver.

Four Americans into the Round of 16: Serena Williams, Venus Williams, and Madison Keys joined Shelby Rogers into the the fourth round on Saturday. Serena fought off Kristina Mladenovic, winning 6-4, 7-6(10) in two hours and 11 minutes in a rain-interrupted match. Venus moved her record against Alizé Cornet to 6-0 with a 7-6(5), 1-6, 6-0 win to move into the second week for the first time since 2010. Keys held off Monica Puig to win 7-6(3), 6-3 to make her first Round of 16 in Paris.

“It was always a goal mine to make second week, and then once I made second week the first time it became achievable, and then it became something that I wanted to do all of the time just to have the consistency,” said Keys. “Where I may not have had the consistency outside of Slams, I had it in the Slams.

“I just think it’s something that I’m getting more and more comfortable with. Obviously I’ve been playing well in the Slams for the past six, seven Slams that I’ve played in. I don’t think it’ll always be, Oh, I’m so happy, but right now I’m just really happy with how I’ve been doing and hope to keep it up.”

Carla Suárez  Navarro scores a big win: No.22 seed Dominika Cibulkova looked to be building a full head of steam as the tournament turned towards the second week but No.12 seed Suárez Navarro found a way to end her resurgent run on clay, winning, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 to make the fourth round for the third time in the last four years. The Spaniard appeared to injure her leg in the first set but was able to shake it off to battle for the win.

“During the first set I ran from the right side to the left side of the court, and I had the impression that I had some problems with my muscle,” she said. “But it was not a pulled muscle. And the pain vanished.”

Yulia Putintseva steamrolls through to her Round of 16 debut: Through three matches, Putintseva has lost just 10 games, posting scores of 6-1, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2, 6-1, 6-1 with wins over Aleksandra Wozniacki, Andrea Petkovic, and Karin Knapp. The draw didn’t offer much early resistance, especially given Petkovic’s recent slump, but Putintseva has looked ruthless. She’ll play Suárez Navarro for a spot in her first Slam quarterfinal.

Kiki Bertens wins 10 straight matches: Bertens has put in some hard yards over the last few weeks and it paid off in her marathon 6-2, 3-6, 10-8 win over No.29 seed Daria Kasatkina. The young Russian picked up a left leg injury late in the third set and could only arm in her serves, and Bertens steeled her nerves to score her 10th straight win, after winning the title last week in Nürnberg. She is into the fourth round for the second time in Paris and will play Keys.

Kristina Mladenovic credits the Serena serve: The Frenchwoman fought hard to stay in it against Serena, fighting off nine break points in the second set to get it to a tie-break. Then the rain came, and after a lengthy rain-delay at 6-6 she was faced with the prospect of coming out of the locker room to win a tiebreaker to stay in the match. She led 5-2 upon resumption but couldn’t hold off her nerves or Serena. A key forehand miss that would have given her 6-2 went wide, and Serena stormed back, finally converting her fifth match point.

“I think it was a good match, a beautiful match, as well,” Mladenovic said afterwards in French. “On both sides, I think. Sometimes there are days that she’s not really into the match or she has difficulties due to what she does, but today I think it was really difficult for both of us. I think I put out good tennis, solid, from the first to the last ball. And during the rallies I thought that ‘she was beatable.’

“But then, as I said, I told you, she’s exceptional, and her biggest strength is her serves. She hit me so much with those serves. But then I’m a bit frustrated. She’s such a great champion, and she manages to escape and find a way out with this weapon.

“Sometimes her statistical results with her serve are not as good as today, and this is what I felt today. There’s not much difference in the match. There’s just one break point. First set when we were 5-4, and then I seized this opportunity on the break point when it was 4-All, and then I took a risk and to be aggressive on my forehand where she serves really long balls in the second balls.

“But today she was so impressive with her serve. There were many games when it was 30-All, and each time it was a big first serve. And yet I think I returned quite well. This is incredible. There’s no moment when she went down. No, so on both sides it was a good fight, a beautiful fight.”

Round of 16 Set: Week 1 is in the books. Here’s how Week 2 tees up: Serena vs. Svitolina, Suárez Navarro vs. Putintseva, Bertens vs. Keys, Venus vs. Bacsinszky, Begu vs. Rogers, Kuznetsova vs. Muguruza, Halep vs. Stosur, Pironkova vs. Radwanska.

Kuznetsova tries to stop Muguruza on Sunday: The forecast doesn’t look great for Sunday, but the match of the day is undoubtedly Kuznetsova vs. Muguruza. The two have played only once, last year in Madrid, which Kuznetsova won 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 en route to the final.

The key for Kuznetsova: relax. The 2009 champion said she’s struggled to keep things in perspective this week. “I was better today because first matches I was extremely tense,” Kuznetsova said after beating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. “Today I said to myself, Look, you got to get out of this tense. I got to just play my game, and whatever happens, my goal for this year was trying to enjoy the tennis.

“Since I got a bit better ranking and everything I start to be tense again, and I don’t want it to happen. I had a great nap in the locker room while the guys were playing five sets. I was great. I was feeling much better.

“So I said, Okay, I just go out there and I want to be happy. That’s the only thing I was concerned about.”

Since being taken to three sets in the first round by Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, Muguruza has been on a tear. Her last four sets: 6-2, 6-0, 6-3, 6-0. A win over Kuznetsova you would expect her to make her first semifinal in Paris.

Photos courtesy of Getty Images.

PARIS, France – The WTA announced on Tuesday that 29-time WTA singles and 69-time doubles champion Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario will return as an ambassador to the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global 2016.

“I had a great experience at the WTA Finals in Singapore last year – spectator support was fantastic and the atmosphere was electric,” the three-time French Open champion said at a press conference held at Roland Garros. “I am honored to return, as it gives me the opportunity to interact with the local fans and friends, old and new, while doing my bit to give back to the sport I love.”

Sánchez-Vicario qualified for the WTA Finals 13 times during her successful career, winning the doubles title twice with Helena Sukova in 1992 and with Jana Novotna in 1995, while finishing as singles runner-up to Steffi Graf in 1993.

In her role as ambassador, the 14-time Grand Slam champion and International Tennis Hall of Fame member joins fellow legend, 59-time Grand Slam champion Martina Navratilova to promote the “Road to Singapore,” a season-long journey which follows players on their quest to make the cut for WTA’s crown jewel event in Singapore.

During the festival, the two legends will be participating in a mix of community and fan engagement activities including tennis clinics as well as appearances at the WTA Finals Fan Zone and the Racquet Club.

“Over the years, Arantxa has been an icon of women’s tennis and a great ambassador of the sport,” noted Melissa Pine, Vice-President of WTA Asia-Pacific and Tournament Director of the WTA Finals. “It is an absolute honor to have her back this year. Her love for the game has been one of the key reasons for her success, and we are really excited for her to bring that same passion to tennis fans at the WTA Finals in Singapore come October.”

The ambassadorship comes as part of an effort by the WTA and Lagardère Sports to enhance fan engagement by bringing them closer to the action during the 10-day festival of sports, lifestyle, business and entertainment from October 21-30, 2016.

“The BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global is a key event in the sporting calendar,” said Sarah Clements, Vice-President of Tennis – Asia at Lagardère Sports. “Besides the uniqueness of the competition, where fans get to watch the best eight singles players and doubles pairs in the world in action on court, the festival of tennis will also captivate fans’ attention with innovative offerings that will keep them entertained.”

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.