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The draws are out and no big surprises on the cards. Nadal, Djokovic and Federer have relatively easy match ups. Here's an analysis from ESPN.

Roger Federer must be breathing a little easier. The somewhat beleaguered Swiss, still seeking that elusive French Open crown with time running out, won't have to face archrivals Novak Djokovic or David Nalbandian as he attempts to reach a third consecutive final. A repeat of Rafael Nadal's blockbuster with Djokovic in the Hamburg Masters semifinals appears likely for the same stage in Paris, while the United States, 0-for-9 in last year's opening round, will have -- sigh -- at least one man in the second round.

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Justine Henin is back at the French Open.

Fortunately for the rest of the women's field she hasn't changed her mind about retirement -- the Belgian is at Roland Garros for a press conference tomorrow.

In Henin's absence, Sharapova, seeking to complete her Grand Slam collection, is the top seed, but has a tricky path to the semis. Sharapova's half, however, doesn't feature the Williams sisters, Jelena Jankovic or Ana Ivanovic, last year's beaten finalist.

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Women's field looks pretty comfortable for the top seeds in inital stages too and in the absence of Henin, the battle must be between Sharapova/Ivanovic/Jankovic and co. A fit Serena might still be a handful though.

Men's - Federer (He's got to win it sometime, right?)
Women's - I'm going to go with Ivanovic.

Would be a brave man to pick Federer now. He's probably had the worst run into a tournament and hasn't looked the player he did the same time last year.

Nadal OTOH has been going great guns. I'd pick Djokovic though.

Nadal will win it ! No one will stop him on clay as long as he feels great to play.

Djokovic ? He'll win at Rolan Garros in case if Nadal gets an injury.

As long as Rafa is healthy, no chance for someone else to win in Paris.

Not Djokovic, neither Roger loves long rails with more than 20 or 30 shots almost every play. Even on clay, these both guys still try to win the points fast.

I've followed the French Grand Slam the last 3 years, twice Nadal played against Roger in the finals, twice Roger did way too many mistakes because Rafa forced him to play like that.

His style is perfect for clay ! Go Rafa !

Nadal might have to play Djokovic in the semis. That'd be the game to watch for me. Lets see if Nadal's Roland Garros streak comes to an end.

j-far wrote:Nadal might have to play Djokovic in the semis. That'd be the game to watch for me. Lets see if Nadal's Roland Garros streak comes to an end.

Djokovic has won.
Want to watch Nadal and Roger to see if they're in shape.

j-far, are you rooting for Novak ?

well, i think because of federer's poor first half of the year he has to try and win it, specially if it's against nadal, which is at the same time pretty unprobable.

i think that djokovic has a better chance than federer, he's having a great year so far.

SashAlex wrote:-= original quote snipped =-



Djokovic has won.
Want to watch Nadal and Roger to see if they're in shape.

j-far, are you rooting for Novak ?

If I were to wish, I'd pick Ferrero to come back and win something.

But yeah Novak seems the most probable candidate to beat Nadal. Still you never know in the french open...

I don't like Novak or Nadal too much, so I'm rooting for Federer to win. Also he's been battling mononucleosis since the beginning of this year or longer and he still made it to the semis of the Aussie open. I think if he was fully healthy, he could have beaten Novak.

I really hope he's fine for the French and want him to complete the career grandslam, then go and win Wimbledon and the US open and surpass Sampras' record.

The 1st round 2nd day results :

Montanes - Vliegen 7-6, 3-2
Serra - Santiago 6-4, 6-3, 6-2
Erakovic - Garbin 6-7, 6-3, 5-3
Peng - Rodionova 6-0, 2-6, 4-3
Federer - Querrey 6-4, 6-4, 6-3
Andujar - Volandri 6-7, 6-2, 6-3, 6-3
Gonzalez - Cuevas 6-3, 6-3, 6-1
Llodra - Patience 3-6, 7-6, 6-3, 7-5
Williams - Obziler 6-3, 4-6, 6-2
Berdych - Smeets 6-1, 6-0, 6-0
Devilder - Guccione 6-4, 6-1, 6-4
Schnyder - Bychkova 6-3, 6-4
Cetkovska - Bondarenko 6-3, 6-0
Lee - Bjorkman 6-4, 6-4, 6-3
Szavay - Morita 6-1, 4-6, 6-4
Bolelli - Baghdatis 6-2, 6-4, 6-2
Granollers-Pujol - Berrer 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3
Hernandez - Minar 4-6, 7-6, 6-3, 7-5
Odesnik - Canas 7-6, 7-6, 7-6
Pavlyuchenkova - Salerni 6-1, 6-1
Garcia-Lopez - Roitman 6-2, 6-4, 7-6
Pandzic - Br

No real upsets huh and finally an american in the 2nd round.

well, an emotional good-bye to kuerten.

and if rain continues to delay nadal's games i wonder how much will the lack of rest affect him.

Last year the first days of the French Open were rainy too.

Go Dementieva.

Bye Blake. Americans SUCK at Roland Garros.

Yet another American bites the clay. Serena goes down in a shocker!

Yeah whats with the American top seeds and clay courts?

Blake was never too comfortable on the clay court, his anticipation was always way off and never read the ball well when its slow off the surface but Serena has always been pretty good. This should open the door for Maria in case no one else steps up.

Heart break for Sharapova and Safina looks as physically imposing as her brother. Good to see that she likes clay unlike Marat!

Federer looked passive but still cruouising through. I like Gonzalez's chances as a dark horse and you never know when the LA BOMBA might strike!

By the way, I remember all eventual french open champions beat Gonzales at some point in the tournament. May be a sign of things to come fo Federer?

yeah, i was just watching safina defeating sharapova after she had 2 match points... way to go maria...

funny... i didn't know they added an A when to the last name of the women...

and i was also thinking that gonzales could be the dark horse, his problem is that he kind of loses his temper and gets all emotional, the bad kind of emotional.

i'm still going with federer and ivanovic.

The Dementieva-Safina match is going to be good. Safina has been a seed killer lately with wins over Henin, Serena, Sharapova and a win over Dementieva in the finals of the German Open. Dementieva is rolling this year and can make a serious move to a top 5 with a win here.

I want to say the tennis Gods has given Dementieva a big opening here with the loss of Sharapova but Safina, like her brother, has world class talent to beat anybody if the mind and health are there. And its certainly has been there for Safina this year.