The WTA field in Paris is one filled with great varieties. There is no real clear-cut favourite to take the title. The romantics will surely pick Justine Henin as their favourite, while the French crowd will be cheering for locals, especially Aravane Rezai who took down Henin, Jelena Jankovic and Venus Williams to win the Madrid title. Venus Williams will go into the French Open with quite a bit of momentum having won a clay court title and was in the Madrid final just last week. Even though Serena Williams is rusty after missing three months due to a knee injury, you can never count out the younger Williams who won the French Open in 2002. Here is an analysis of the top five women seeds.

Fifth seeded Elena Dementieva enters the French open with some recent poor results. Dementieva has not a reached the quarterfinals of a clay court tournament in 2010. Even with the easy draw that Dementieva has received, you can bet your life that she will find a way to choke.

Whoever decided to awaken Jelena Jankovic from her slumber of a full year, I have only six words for you- THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! The win in Indian Wells and the runner-up position at Madrid should indicate that Jankovic should atleast improve on last years showing of a defeat in the fourth round.

Third seed Caroline Wozniacki has sort of lost her momentum since reaching the US Open final, add to that the expectations from her rise to number two in the WTA rankings and you’ve got quite a dilemma on your hands. Only last year Wozniacki had wrestled the WTA Iron Woman title from Jelena Jankovic after the latter pricked her hand on the WTA cursed spindle (the no.1 rank) and fell into a long slumber. With e recurring ankle injury Wozniacki is out of contention for the French Open title, which is such a shame because her counter puncher game is so well suited to the rigorous dirt of Roland Garros.

After putting in a lot of work in Serena Williams’ absence, Venus Williams has finally risen to number two in the WTA rankings. Things are looking positive for Venus after winning twelve matches on clay and winning a clay court title. Roland Garros is the Grand Slam that highlights Venus’ vulnerabilities a great deal, she has lost in the third round here for the past three years! One can never count out Venus; she has a good great game, but an even more powerful determination.

It seems that determination was the chloride to the Williams gene pool, and Serena Williams soaked in more than her fair share. Even though Roland Garros has not been as fruitful a Grand Slam as the other three Grand Slams have proven for Serena, her sheer will power is lethal enough to make her a serious contender on any service. With the women’s field in such disarray, 2010 could just be the year that Serena Williams finally adds a partner to her lone French Open title.

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Top 5 Men at Roland Garros

It’s that time of the year again when tennis goes to the gritty dirt of Roland Garros. The French open is renowned for its physically gruelling matches and shocking upsets. It will come as no surprise to a lot of tennis fans that the script has been flipped on its head again. The men’s field is not as strong as in previous years and the Williams sisters are ranked at the top two spots on the WTA rankings for the first time since 2003. Today I want to review the top five players in both the male.

Robin Soderling will most definitely be the fifth seed seeing as both Juan Martin Del Potro and Nikolay Davydenko have withdrew due to injuries. Last year proved to be the jolt Soderling’s career needed when he ended Rafael Nadal’s four year rule at Roland Garros. Since that epic victory Soderling has kept up the momentum to crack the top ten. Soderling is currently enjoying a career high ranking of no.7, but enters the French Open on lacklustre performances in 2010, it is doubtful that he will be able to match last year’s performance.
It seems that Andy Murray has let the ball drop since last year when he (seeded third) reached a career best quarterfinal at the French Open. However, this year Murray will be seeded fourth and with no title in his 2010 resume. Even though many people don’t really expect that much from Murray at Roland Garros, a good draw and his sheer determination might see him repeat last years feat.

What the hell is going on with the third seeded Novak Djokovic? The last two years have seen Djokovic go from being the only player to challenge Nadal and Federer on every surface to being a floater. In 2008 Djokovic reached the semis or better in every clay court tournament he played, he looked to be the only player who could usurp Nadal at the French when he resumed his stellar performance on clay in 2009. With only one semi on clay in 2010 and a withdrawal in Madrid, things don’t look that good for the Djoker.

With four French Open crowns under his belt, Rafael Nadal seems to be on course to a fifth title. The rest of the top 5 has not mounted a serious threat on clay this year. He has dominated in Monte Carlo, Rome and Madrid. The revised clay schedule for Nadal has ensured that he will enter the French Open very energised.

For the first time since way back Roger Federer will enter the French Open without a clay court title under his belt. Although Federer has been sidelined for a while due to different illnesses post-Australian Open, he has appeared vulnerable in most of his matches during the clay season. He withdrew from Monte Carlo, lost to Ernest Gulbis in Rome and was tested by Ferrer in Madrid. The straight sets loss to Nadal in the Madrid final has re-ignited the Federer- Nadal rivalry.

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