Mystical red clay awaits

As far as tradition in tennis goes the French Open ranks up there with Wimbledon, but in terms of difficulty – nothing compares to the mystical red clay courts of Roland Garros.

The second Grand Slam of the year starts tomorrow with a golden history steeped in reducing some of the greatest players of the Open era to mere bystanders.

Jimmy Connors with five US Open titles, two Wimbledons and the Australian Open crown, John McEnroe with three Wimbledon and four US Open titles and Pete Sampras with 14 Grand Slam victories; all came, saw, but failed to conquer.

On the other side of the court, there are players like the legendary Bjorn Borg (six Roland Garros titles) and former women's No1 ranked stars Chris Evert (7) and Steffi Graf (6), for whom winning in Paris was as alluring as a shopping spree in the French capital.

And now, in true French tradition, the trend continues. World No2 ranked Rafael Nadal enters the 2008 showpiece with the enviable nickname "King of Clay", having claimed the past three French Open titles, while World No1 Roger Federer seems to follow in the footsteps of a prestigious company of past legends who just couldn't add the Roland Garros crown to their otherwise accomplishments.

In the women's draw, had Justine Henin not shocked the world last week by announcing her retirement – the now former World No1 would have entered the French Open as a winner of four of the past five editions, including the past three consecutively.

As it stands now, with Henin out of the equation, the women's draw is an open affair with all from new World No1 Maria Sharapova, Serbs Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic, Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova and the William sisters: Serena and Venus – in with a fighting chance to claim the coveted crown.

Sharapova, winner of the Australian Open in January, has been in sensational form this year and while the Russian did pull out of an the Italian Open this week, rumours suggest it was a precaution to ensure she entered Paris well-rested and as favourite – in a bid to win her first title at Roland Garros.

As of 2007, the past eight French Open men's singles championships were won by men who did not win any other Grand Slam tournament, which paints a rosy picture for many aspiring male competitors.

But in reality, barring unfortunate circumstances, the mouth-watering battle in the men's section is set up to be between Nadal and Federer. And here on clay, it's Nadal who seems to reign supreme and is the favourite.

The Spaniard has a 21-match winning streak at Roland Garros and has lost only twice in 110 matches on clay since April 2005. To top that off, Federer suffered his 10th loss to Nadal this week in Hamburg.

Federer, with 12 Grand Slams titles, is already a legend in the game with or without the French Open, but the Swiss master has set about the task of securing his first Roland Garros title this year by recently hiring Spanish clay court specialist coach Jose Higueras to assist his game. How good a move that will be, remains to be seen.

The world No1's bid to claim the one million euros (Dh5.7m) first prize available for the singles title will be boosted by the fact that Nadal's mind appears to be elsewhere.

He has led criticism of the decision to squeeze a week out of the clay-court season (to accommodate the Olympics) and has been caught up in a row with Spain's Tennis Federation over the Davis Cup.

But all will be put aside as the toughest and most arduous of all the Grand Slams begins.

Players to watch at the 2008 French Open

Novak Djokovic: After winning the first Grand Slam of the year – the Australian Open – the No3 ranked Serb has being quickly cutting down the gap between himself and Rafael Nadal above him with some splendid performances. He leads the upcoming chasing pack threatening to uproot the Roger Federer/Nadal dominance of the game and will look to make a statement in Paris.

David Ferrer: The Spanish player's game is well suited to the clay courts here at Roland Garros and he is both a dangerous opponent on this surface and the dark horse for the tournament. He has not yet won a Grand Slam, but his game has improved immensely over the past year as has his ranking, which is now No4 in the world, and in Paris he has a real chance to clinch the big one.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga: The French player carries the hopes of the home crowds and will hope their fabled patriotic support will in turn carry him to his first Grand Slam and career victory. The 23-year-old shot to fame by reaching the Australian Open final and has had a reasonable year since then without winning anything. He will hope all that changes on home soil.

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