The season's 2nd Grand Slam gets underway on Sunday and the much anticipated drawing took place on Friday. 4-time defending champion, Rafael Nadal, is the number 1 seed and has only lost 1 match on clay so far this year, to Roger Federer in last week's Madrid Open final. Andy Murray was drawn to Nadal's side, while Novak Djokovic, who reached the final of key French Open warmups in Rome and Monte Carlo, was drawn to world number 2, Roger Federer's side. Fernando Verdasco of Spain is in Nadal's quarter, and Andy Roddick, who will be attempting to win his 1st French Open match in 3 years, is in Federer's section. Gilles Simon, who has drastically under-performed this Spring, is in the Murray quarter, and world number 5 Juan Martin del Potro is with Djokovic. The obvious questions going into Paris this year are if Nadal and Federer can meet once again in a final, and if Federer's victory in Madrid last week will give him a major confidence boost. Murray hasn't lived up to expectations this clay-court season, but managed to upend Djokovic and snatch away his number 3 ranking. Djokovic on the other hand, has had a stellar Autumn, and hopes to prove what ranking he really deserves.
The men's game is much more narrowed down than the women's, where up to 10 different women could take the coveted RG crown this year. Serena Williams, who has won the last 2 Grand Slams, has won the title here once, but has failed at taking the crown the last several years. The younger Williams is on a 4 match losing streak, while her elder sibling, Venus hasn't faired much better. World number 1, Dinara Safina, has been trying to prove that she deserves her ranking, and she has succeeded in doing so, winning in Rome and Madrid. Defending champion Ana Ivanovic became number 1 after she won here, but never was able to handle the pressure, and has fallen to number 8 in the last year. Elena Dementieva and Jelena Jankovic are world number 4 and 5 respectively, and have been solid in the past 2 months. Jankovic has fell 4 ranking spots since she went into the Aussie Open as top dog. Victoria Azarenka took the Indian Wells trophy and has proved that she is a force to be reackoned with, and Caroline Wozniacki reached the finals in Charleston and Madrid. Svetlana Kuznetsova defeated Safina in Stuttgart, and has the chops to take a major title.
I've done my very best to break down the storylines for this years 2nd major, but all there is left to do is sit back and enjoy the dirtiest slam of them all.
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