Will Halep repeat as champion?

It was the crowning achievement in Simona Halep’s career, just under a year ago on Court Philippe-Chatrier, the demons of major finals’ past finally shaken: she was a Grand Slam champion at long last. And no one – not anyone – could take that away from her.

Fast-forward to 2019 and her triumph has become an Achilles’ heel of sorts. The “problem” is Simona can’t stop smiling, because what she was able to accomplish in Paris last June was a lifelong dream of hers. 

So, can she do it all over again this coming fortnight?

Watch the full discussion with the 'Live at Roland-Garros' team below:

That’s the question we debated on Monday night in our daily question segment on ‘Live at Roland Garros,’ and while we usually don’t give our resident expert Daniela Hantuchova a pass, she said she wanted to wait until the second week to make the call.

“That’s when she starts to feel the energy from last year and starts to get the confidence of, ‘Oh, OK, I remember this… I’ve been here before and I can do this again’," Hantuchova said.

But, Daniela wondered, “Can she get through this first week?”

It’s the big question that will loom over Roland-Garros on Tuesday as she takes on Ajla Tomljanovic, an Australian who Halep is 1-0 against. Tomljanovic could be Halep’s sturdiest test until the quarterfinals, where she was slated to play Petra Kvitova, but now is projected to meet No.11 Aryna Sabalenka there after Kvitova’s withdrawal due to injury Monday. 

You the fans, voting across both Twitter and Instagram throughout Monday, were split. At the airing of the show, some 9,800 fans had voted across the two platforms, with 58% going for Halep to retain her title and 42% saying she wouldn’t.

Twitter was a bit more negative: Only 31% of the 1,916 voters said that Halep would successfully defend her crown.

Anyone can win

Hantuchova chalked that up to how open the women’s field is, even with the likes of Kvitova, Caroline Wozniacki and Angelique Kerber all already out.

“On the women’s side, on clay, you just never know,” Hantuchova said, re-iterating her stance.

My co-host Gigi Salmon agreed with Daniela’s wait-until-week-two-call, while I had to admit what I had said on Radio Roland-Garros earlier in the day: Halep is my pick for the title. I really do think she can back it up this week.

To me, her tennis will be magic from the word “play” against Tomljanovic.

Halep, for her part, acknowledges that, yes, she is very happy in her life right now, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t hungry for more. Recently she made a deep run in Madrid, where she finished runner-up to another could-be winner here on the women’s side, Kiki Bertens.

“I wanted this badly,” Halep said about her hunger for a Roland-Garros trophy. “I wanted it as a kid. I wanted it so much… having it, I want to be happy and smile. When I had the chance to touch the trophy again (at the draw), I wanted to take it home.”

Can she take it home again? Hantuchova pointed to one factor in the show that she feels is the biggest difference: No famed coach in Darren Cahill at Simo’s side.

“It will be interesting to see how she handles it, if she makes week two," Hantuchova said. “Maybe I would say she will be more ready when she comes back in another 12 months. (Darren) pushed her to that title. Sometimes, mentally, she was weaker in matches and he didn’t have any of that. He was a wall for her.

"(Now) he’s not here. Can she do it again? Almost by herself? It would be amazing.”

Technically, she won’t be alone, as Halep announced in Miami that she’s working with Daniel Dobre, a Romanian coach that she has worked with on and off during the past.

So, what do YOU think? Will Halep go back-to-back in Paris? We’ll start to understand just that come this afternoon.

> ORDER OF PLAY DAY 3: Tuesday 28 June

Want to weigh in? Our question for tonight’s show is: Is Roland-Garros the most different major to win? You can vote on Twitter or Instagram when you see the question come across your feed or in our stories.

Tune in tonight from 7pm Paris time on our Facebook and YouTube channels, here on the website and the official app to hear our full discussion!