The full list of 32 women’s seedings with Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka at the top

If it wasn’t for the French Open, there might not even be 32 seeds at grand slam events.

It was Gustavo Kuerten, then world No 1, who complained that only 16 seeded spots were afforded to players at the majors. He claimed that players, like him, who specialised on the clay and excelled at Roland Garros were disadvantaged by the fact that seedings did not extend further down the rankings.

Years before, grand slams had only been seeded for the top eight players, and the rest had been randomly allotted into the bracket, making draw day a particularly tense occasion.

However, Kuerten got his way eventually and in 2001, all four slams agreed to adopt the 32-seed system that is still in place and is how the 2023 French Open bracket is put together.

How 2022 unfolded

Iga Swiatek had not lost a match since February and thus arrived at Roland Garros last year as a massive favourite.

The top seed did not disappoint either, dropping just one set en route to what was her second grand slam. As has become a familiar sight in WTA slams since the pandemic, the rest of the draw fell apart: the highest-ranked player after Swiatek in the quarter-finals was No 11 seed Jessica Pegula.

In the final, Swiatek faced No 18 Coco Gauff, playing on such a stage for the first time, and frankly she blew her away. The young American will come again – few believe she won’t – but it was a baptism of fire in her first major final.

French Open 2023 women’s seeds tracker

During the tournament, this list will be updated at the end of each day’s play to score out any seeds who have been eliminated and detail their defeat.

1. Iga Swiatek

2. Aryna Sabalenka

3. Jessica Pegula

4. Elena Rybakina

5. Caroline Garcia

6. Coco Gauff

7. Ons Jabeur

8. Maria Sakkari

9. Daria Kasatkina

10. Petra Kvitova

11. Veronika Kudermetova

12. Belinda Bencic

13. Barbora Krejcikova

14. Beatriz Haddad Maia

15. Liudmila Samsonova

16. Karolina Pliskova

17. Jelena Ostapenko

18. Victoria Azarenka

19. Zheng Qinwen

20. Madison Keys

21. Donna Vekic

22. Magda Linette

23. Ekaterina Alexandrova

24. Anastasia Potapova

25. Anhelina Kalinina

26. Martina Trevisan

27. Irina-Camelia Begu

28. Elise Mertens

29. Paula Badosa

30. Zhang Shuai

31. Sorana Cirstea

32. Marie Bouzkova