<Tr> <Td> ← 2017 </Td> <Td> French Open </Td> <Td> 2019 → </Td> </Tr> <P> Jeļena Ostapenko was the defending champion, but lost in the first round to Kateryna Kozlova, making her only the second French Open champion (after Anastasia Myskina in 2005) to lose in the first round of her title defense . </P> <P> World No. 1 Simona Halep won her first Grand Slam title, defeating Sloane Stephens in the final, 3--6, 6--4, 6--1 . She became the second Romanian woman to win a Grand Slam title after the 1978 French Open champion Virginia Ruzici . She also became the sixth woman to win both the senior and junior title, having won the latter in 2008 . </P> <P> Halep retained the WTA no . 1 singles ranking after defeating fellow contender Garbiñe Muguruza in the semifinals . In addition to Halep and Muguruza, Caroline Wozniacki, Elina Svitolina, Karolína Plíšková and Caroline Garcia were also in contention for the top ranking at the start of the tournament . </P>

Who won the women's french open in 2018