Despite not playing on the European red dirt in almost two years until last month, Barty has swiftly underlined her French Open title favouritism by extending her winning streak on the surface to 16 matches.

Among active players, only the great Serena Williams has ever won more consecutive times on clay.

Her sequence included a straight-sets victory over reigning French Open champion Iga Swiatek last week in Madrid among a succession of wins over top-10 rivals.

"It hasn't really surprised me," Barty said on Tuesday night from Rome ahead of this week's Italian Open.

"Probably what's been most pleasing is the consistent level from the start of the tournament right to the end.

"There haven't been too many really big drops, which has been a massive thing.

"I'd like to think after a couple of years' experience playing on it, more matches, playing in different clay, different conditions, I'd love to say I've learned more and been able to kind of hone my craft a bit more on clay."

Barty's winning ways finally came to a halt with a thrilling three-set loss to Aryna Sabalenka in Sunday's Madrid Open final.

It was the 25-year-old's first defeat on European clay since falling in three sets to Williams at the 2018 French Open.

The bookies aren't falling for it, but top-seeded Barty doesn't believe she'll be the woman to beat in Paris when the season's second grand slam starts on May 30.

"It's going to be exciting to walk on (Court Philippe) Chatrier again and just soak it all in. But in my eyes, I certainly don't go into Paris as the favourite. Not by any means," she said.

"There are some exceptional claycourters, some of the best that we've ever seen probably across our sport that are playing at the moment.

"So I go into it with a really clean slate, with fresh eyes and try to do the best that I can.

"Whether that's a first round, a quarter-final or a final or whatever it is, it's about going out there and doing the best that I can for that match and if the results come, they come.

"And if they don't, I won't lose any sleep over it."

Barty, though, does plan to be at Roland Garros until the business end of the tournament.

For that reason, the top seed said she was in no hurry to arrive in Paris until qualifying starts.

The Queenslander is unsure just yet exactly where she and coach Craig Tyzzer plan to spend the week before the slam, but it will likely be in regional France.

"We'll just train," Barty said.

After a first-round bye in Rome, Barty will open her campaign this week against Kazakh Yaroslava Shvedova and is seeded for a quarter-final rematch with Sabalenka.

Australian Associated Press