French Open Preview

And now for a little French Open preview.  I kind of like my brief I gave for the Aussie Open, so rather than include it in a separate post, here it is now:

For the men, I view Nadal and Djokovic as co-favorites.  Obviously you give Nadal the benefit of the doubt since he's only lost once here, but he has not played that well recently.  Djokovic hasn't been playing real well either, but he survived Rome and beat Nadal in the final.  It's possible we see an unlikely champion at this event, but most likely one of the top 2 in the world will reach the final and win.  Beyond them, Federer and Wawrinka probably have the best shot as several of the 5 to 15-ish players aren't in great form although Nishikori if healthy could make a run and Raonic quietly had a solid clay season.  Dimitrov and Gulbis are other names to keep an eye on.

For the women, with her win in Rome, Serena is likely the favorite, especially given her massive head-to-head advantage against Sharapova.  But don't overlook the Russian or Li, as past champions here.  There are players here that could beat Serena, especially given her pre-Rome form, but that doesn't mean they'll win.  I look for Halep to have a nice tournament if healthy, and Errani is primed for a deep run though I don't think she can win the whole thing.  The Serbs, Jankovic and Ivanovic, are possibly threats, especially with a whole lot of question marks in the top 15.  And don't sleep on former champ Kuznetsova, who seems to be slowly rounding back into form.

Here are the big points defenders:
Men
F - Nadal def. Ferrer
SF - Djokovic, Tsonga
QF - Wawrinka, Federer, Haas, Robredo
Women
F - Serena def. Sharapova
SF - Azarenka, Errani
QF - Radwanska, Jankovic, Kirilenko, Kuznetsova

Former men's champs in the draw: Nadal, Federer
Former women's champs in the draw: Serena, Ivanovic, Kuznetsova, Schiavone, Li, Sharapova
Former boy's champs in the draw: Mathieu, Gasquet, Wawrinka, Monfils, Cilic, Klizan
Former girl's champs in the draw: Dominguez Lino, Razzano, Kanepi, A.Radwanska, Cornet, Halep, Mladenovic, Svitolina, Beck, Bencic

American participants (8 men, 14 women), from top to bottom in the draw:
-w-Ginepri, Sock, Johnson, Klahn, Young, 10-Isner, Querrey, Russell (no qualifiers)
-1-Serena, q-Min, 29-Venus, Davis, McHale, w-Townsend, King, Lepchenko, 15-Stephens, Vandeweghe, Rogers, Tatishvili (new American), Keys, Riske

Potential quarterfinal matchups:

-Nadal vs Ferrer
-Wawrinka vs Murray
-Federer vs Berdych
-Djokovic vs Raonic

-Serena vs Sharapova (boo)
-Radwanska vs Kerber
-Halep vs Kvitova
-Li vs Jankovic