Report card: top five women in Rome

Here are the women with the best results last week in Rome.

Elena Svitolina A+
In Rome, in 2017, Svitolina finally rose, winning the tournament. Two weeks later in Paris, she backed off, was nervous and she lost early. But she never stopped trying. In 2018, last week, she played brilliantly. She is so quick, so powerful, and she is very smart. She won the event fairly easily, crushing Simona Halep in the final. Now, once again, she has a legitimate chance to win a Grand Slam at Roland Garros. But there will be pressure, serious pressure …

Simona Halep A
Props to beating Maria Sharapova in the semis. She could have folded but she did not, she ripped her shots and she jumped on it. Unfortunately, in the final, Halep was exhausted. Her legs were very heavy, and she couldn’t run fast enough against Svitolina. Still, the No. 1 Halep was more than respectable, so for the “millionth” time, she has a shot to win her first Grand Slam. If she remains focused …  

Maria Sharapova B+
Even though Sharapova lost in the semis against Halep, she played substantially better last week. Finally. She took a breath, she hustled, she was patient when she could. Yes, she can be erratic and still, a little off. She won Roland Garros twice. So, when she arrives in Paris, she may not win, but she will push, hard. There, her confidence will return. 

Anett Kontaveit B+
Out of almost nowhere, Kontaveit reached the semis, upsetting CoCo Vandeweghe, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Venus Williams, and Caro Wozniacki before losing to Svitolina. On clay, Kontaveit looks pretty darn good. So, at RG in Paris, she could be a real factor.

Jelena Ostapenko B
Believe it or not, the 2017 Roland Garros champion is getting better. She has had a tough year, but she did reach the final in Miami on hardcourts. In Rome last week, she did beat Jo Konta, and then, went down against Sharapova 7-5 in the third. Ostapenko was very close to that win. While the 20-year-old person can blast the ball from both wings, she has to be a little more comfortable with staying in longer rallies. She did win Paris last year, smoking the ball, so maybe she can do it again.