Li Na was the defending champion, but lost in the fourth round to qualifier Yaroslava Shvedova, the first time a defending champion was defeated by a qualifier in the tournament's history.
The tournament was notable for one of the biggest upsets in French Open history as world No. 111 Virginie Razzano defeated world No. 5 and 2002 championSerena Williams in the first round, despite Williams being two points from victory at 5–1 in the second-set tiebreaker. Razzano became only the second player ranked outside the top 100 (after Sun Tiantian at the 2005 China Open) to defeat Williams in a WTA Tour-level main draw match.[citation needed] It was Williams' first loss in the first round of a major.[3]
This tournament marked the major main-draw debut of future world No. 1 Karolína Plíšková. She lost to Marion Bartoli in the first round.