This space was originally reserved for Justine Henin.
She might have been having a difficult year, but it didn’t matter. She might have struggling with injuries and having trouble finding her usual intensity, that didn’t matter either. Even being upset by Dinara Safina in the third round of Berlin didn’t matter.
She was the world No. 1, a four-time French Open champion, and whatever happened, she was going to be the favorite going into this year’s event.
Instead, her shock retirement leaves the women’s field (rather like this preview) suddenly missing its central focus, riding into Paris like a kind of headless horseman.
FOUR UNTO THE BREACH
Who will fill the gap? No single player has dominated this season, and the field would have been considered wide open even with Henin in the field. Now, with the Belgian missing, four women share top billing - Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic.
They have split the year’s big events between them - Sharapova won the Australian Open and Doha, Ivanovic won Indian Wells, Serena won Miami and Charleston, and Jankovic took Rome - but it’s not results alone that make them co-favorites.
Sharapova and Williams are the game’s steeliest competitors. While neither is fond of playing on clay, they have grimly imposed their brand of powerball at Roland Garros with surprising success
Sharapova gave one of the most creditable performances of her career last year when she reached the semifinals despite being short on practice and nursing a shoulder injury. She had been half-expected to skip the event to prepare for Wimbledon, but turned up, saying, “I have a lot of respect for this tournament... the French is probably going to be the most challenging event that I'm going to play in my career. And I play tennis because I love challenges.”
She has played sparingly this year to avoid the kind of injury quagmire she experienced last season and withdrew from her semifinal match in Rome with a calf strain. But at a Grand Slam, she’s willing to pull out all the stops.
“Last year, I basically played without a shoulder and I got to the semifinals,” she said. “So in a Grand Slam stage you're going to do whatever it takes. If it's taking a few extra painkillers or, I don't know, what other options there are, then definitely.”
Williams will be the only former champion in the field this year, which itself counts for something. She’s also won 18 of her last 19 matches, a sure sign that her game is in one of its dangerously good phases. And it’s fairly certain that her back problem in Rome will clear up by the time she steps on the court in Paris. But unfortunately for her and her opponents, Williams’ No. 5 seeding means she could meet one of the top four as early as the quarterfinals.
Neither of the two is comfortable enough on the dirt to cruise through the tournament, but their ability to get going when the going is tough can never be discounted. Williams would have the edge if the two were to meet on court. agaist the field as a whole, Sharapova is more vulnerable to a hot opponent but less prone to the kind of off-days Williams can sometimes experience.
The Serbs are less accomplished on the Grand Slam stage but looking overdue for a breakthrough. Ivanovic announced herself to the world last year by reaching the French final and began this year two other big results - the Australian Open final and the Indian Wells title. But she has been less convincing since and was upset in her opening match at Rome.
“I felt quite flat out there and I found it a struggle to find my rhythm and to find something inside to fight,” she said after the loss. “I really struggled with my intensity today, and that obviously caused a lot of errors, so I'm really disappointed with that.”
She shouldn’t have trouble finding motivation in Paris and will be quite fresh going into the event. But for the first time, she'll be facing the pressure of defending a big result at a Grand Slam.
Having just won Rome, Jankovic is the form player and the only counterpuncher among these four. While others increasingly curtail their schedules, Jankovic has a near-endless appetite for playing tournament after tournament and long match after long match. This resiliency could be her greatest asset if she's around when the players are nearing the end of a long and demanding fortnight.
No player on tour can have been more relieved to see Henin go than Jankovic. Despite some close matches, her head-to-head against the Belgian was a futile 0-9. “Yeah, she was the one that was my worst opponent last year on clay season. She was the only one I couldn't beat, and she was the one stopping me from winning many tournaments on clay, and some on hard as well," said Jankovic, who lost to Henin seven times last year, including all three of her European clay events. "So now she's not playing anymore, so of course I have a bigger chance."
THE NEXT LAYER
Two others who deserve a mention are former finalists Svetlana Kuznetsova and Venus Williams. Neither has inspired confidence lately - Kuznetsova won just two clay matches leading into the French and Venus has only just made a return at Rome after taking a vaguely-defined break. But both are capable of taking advantage of a good draw to go deep into the event.
Then there are four Russians with significant darkhorse potential. Elena Dementieva, another former finalist, is quietly having a strong year, as is Vera Zvonareva. Anna Chakvetadze has only recently begun to recover after being robbed in the off-season and making a poor start to the year, but her game is well-suited to the surface. Safina pulled off one of the year’s great runs by defeating Henin, Serena and Dementieva on her way to the Berlin title, and there’s a small chance lightening could strike twice. At the very least, she’s likely to outlast her fading older brother, Marat. “Before we left to come to Germany we had a bit of a fight because he said I was doing everything wrong,” Safina said after winning Berlin. “But look, brother - I am on the right path.”
The same can’t be said of the local French hopefuls, numerous though they are. Amelie Mauresmo needs to shake off a slump and get over a rib injury before she can even begin to tackle her annual French Open demons. Marion Bartoli has not only been in freefall, but hurt her wrist at Strasbourg and her participation is now in doubt. “I think it might be a pinched nerve because I can’t bend my fingers,” she said.
Tatiana Golovin is still not quite recovered from surgery and pulled out of the event, leaving the newspapers to be content with snapping her around town with her recently-acquired soccer player boyfriend. Virginie Razzano’s steady rise seems to be leveling off, and Aravane Rezai is still outside the Top 40.
So, astonishingly, this year’s French flagbearer will be 18-year-old Alize Cornet, who is coming in fresh off a run to the finals of Rome. “I think for French people actually I'm the best player on clay right now, at this point,” she said. “So, yes, I come to Paris with a big goal. I want to play good there because it's a very special event for me. I think I have the level to win some matches.” If she doesn’t, expect some tears.
Two other teens, Victoria Azarenka and Dominika Cibulkova., have been performing well coming into Paris and are also good candidates to win a couple of rounds. On the other end of the scale, claycourt-loving veterans like Francesca Schiavone and Anabel Medina Garrigues are capable of putting together a small run.
A new age for women’s tennis, meanwhile, begins now.