2004 French Open Preview
The draws are full of big name stars including the Williams Sisters, Andy Roddick and Martina Navratilova...yes, Martina Navratilova. The living legend has accepted a wildcard into the main singles draw at the age of 47. Winner of 167 singles titles throughout her career, Navratilova won the French Open in 1982 and 1984, though clay is not her best surface. Navratilova has her sights on Wimbledon and the Olympics, primarily focused on doubles, then plans to retire, again, at the end of 2004.
The Williams sisters are back in the draw at Roland Garros after injury forced them both onto the sidelines during 2003. Their general health seems good, but the state of their game, and their mind, to compete with the best after such a long layoff is yet to be proven. They're a tough pair to figure out. Venus won two tournaments in 2004, but has also lost to players such as Lisa Raymond and Elena Dementieva, and withdrew from a quarterfinal and final match, as recently as a few weeks ago. Sister Serena hasn't really played enough to know where her game is, or if her knee is strong enough to go two long weeks on clay.
Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo may be the one to beat at the French in 2004, having a great series of tournaments leading up to Paris, with wins over Justine Henin-Hardenne, Lindsay Davenport and Jennifer Capriati. A quarterfinalist in 2003, Mauresmo has never had outstanding results here, but should have great confidence going into this event at a career-best world ranking of No. 3.
Potential women's quarterfinal matchups, including four Americans, are as follows:
No. 1 Justine Henin-Hardenne vs No. 8 Nadia Petrova
No. 2 Serena Williams vs No. 6 Anastasia Myskina
No. 3 Amelia Mauresmo vs No. 5 Lindsay Davenport
No. 4 Venus Williams vs No. 7 Jennifer Capriati
On the mens side, defending champion Juan Carlos Ferrero is seeded No. 4 and is not a favorite to repeat, suffering from illness and injury, along with several bad losses in the first part of 2004. It's the other Spaniard that seems poised to step up and play. Tour veteran and all-around nice guy Carlos Moya, seeded No. 5, is enjoying a recent resurgence, though it probably won't be enough for the 1998 champion to win another title at Roland Garros.
It's a toss up between Roger Federer and Guillermo Coria as the men's favorite. Federer is the top seed and No. 1 in the world, but Coria is a more natural clay courter, and a semifinalist here in 2003. Andy Roddick may be the best American hope, but his game isn't ready for clay, yet.
Potential men's quarterfinal matchups are as follows:
No. 1 Roger Federer vs No. 8 David Nalbandian
No. 2 Andy Roddick vs No. 6 Andre Agassi
No. 3 Guillermo Coria vs No. 5 Carlos Moya
No. 4 Juan Carlos Ferrero vs No. 7 Rainer Schuettler
Stay tuned to ESPN and ESPN2 for all the tennis coverage you could hope for from Paris.
The Williams sisters are back in the draw at Roland Garros after injury forced them both onto the sidelines during 2003. Their general health seems good, but the state of their game, and their mind, to compete with the best after such a long layoff is yet to be proven. They're a tough pair to figure out. Venus won two tournaments in 2004, but has also lost to players such as Lisa Raymond and Elena Dementieva, and withdrew from a quarterfinal and final match, as recently as a few weeks ago. Sister Serena hasn't really played enough to know where her game is, or if her knee is strong enough to go two long weeks on clay.
Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo may be the one to beat at the French in 2004, having a great series of tournaments leading up to Paris, with wins over Justine Henin-Hardenne, Lindsay Davenport and Jennifer Capriati. A quarterfinalist in 2003, Mauresmo has never had outstanding results here, but should have great confidence going into this event at a career-best world ranking of No. 3.
Potential women's quarterfinal matchups, including four Americans, are as follows:
No. 1 Justine Henin-Hardenne vs No. 8 Nadia Petrova
No. 2 Serena Williams vs No. 6 Anastasia Myskina
No. 3 Amelia Mauresmo vs No. 5 Lindsay Davenport
No. 4 Venus Williams vs No. 7 Jennifer Capriati
On the mens side, defending champion Juan Carlos Ferrero is seeded No. 4 and is not a favorite to repeat, suffering from illness and injury, along with several bad losses in the first part of 2004. It's the other Spaniard that seems poised to step up and play. Tour veteran and all-around nice guy Carlos Moya, seeded No. 5, is enjoying a recent resurgence, though it probably won't be enough for the 1998 champion to win another title at Roland Garros.
It's a toss up between Roger Federer and Guillermo Coria as the men's favorite. Federer is the top seed and No. 1 in the world, but Coria is a more natural clay courter, and a semifinalist here in 2003. Andy Roddick may be the best American hope, but his game isn't ready for clay, yet.
Potential men's quarterfinal matchups are as follows:
No. 1 Roger Federer vs No. 8 David Nalbandian
No. 2 Andy Roddick vs No. 6 Andre Agassi
No. 3 Guillermo Coria vs No. 5 Carlos Moya
No. 4 Juan Carlos Ferrero vs No. 7 Rainer Schuettler
Stay tuned to ESPN and ESPN2 for all the tennis coverage you could hope for from Paris.
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