French Open Preview

Rafael Nadal has celebrated many times at Roland Garros but will he this time around?

Rafael Nadal may be the king of clay but there are plenty of pretenders to his throne...

Two players who have had their problems on clay so far this season remain favourites to lift their respective titles at the French Open.

Rafael Nadal remains the man to beat on his favourite surface, but in the last few weeks he has shown signs of vulnerability, giving others on the men's tour hope of causing an upset. Meanwhile, 2014 has, so far, been an injury-hit season for women's number one Serena Williams. 

Nadal's run to Paris has, for most of the past decade, been imperious. He has excellent records in Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Madrid, and Rome but this year, has only won one of those tournaments. 

Losses in the quarter-finals of the Monte Carlo Masters and the Barcelona Open to David Ferrer and Nicolas Almagro respectively were followed by success in Madrid. However, in his latest event, the Italian Open, Nadal was beaten in the final in three sets by Novak Djokovic. 

Though the world number one remains the man to beat in Paris - he has won the Grand Slam eight times - the recent setbacks have given his nearest challengers on the men's tour renewed hope that he is beatable, even on clay. 

The French Open is the one Grand Slam that Novak Djokovic is yet to win. However, his victory over Nadal in Rome will give him plenty of belief ahead of the second Grand Slam of the season. He came back well in the game, losing the first set but dominating the next two, returning the Nadal serve especially well. 

That was the second clay court victory Djokovic has achieved over Nadal this season. The two met in the final of the Miami Masters and that was more comfortable for the Serb, who won in straight sets. He also, earlier in the season, won the Indian Well Masters, defeating Roger Federer. 

Federer himself won in Paris in 2009, the one year when Nadal was beaten there and he still hopes to add to his total of 17 career Grand Slam wins. The Swiss player turns 33 later this summer and clay has never been his favourite surface, struggling against Nadal in the past on the slow courts compared to the relative speed of the hard courts and especially grass. 

His solitary title this season was won at the Dubai Tennis Championships and, after withdrawing from Madrid due to his wife giving birth to twins, he lost in the second round on his return at the Italian Open. 

Andy Murray has had a slow return to tennis after taking an extended break for back surgery. He has not won a tournament since his return but was encouraged by the way he played in defeat, against Rafael Nadal in Rome. The Scot won the first set 6-1 but could not maintain that pace. 

However, despite Nadal taking the second set 6-3 to level the match, Murray had a glorious chance in the final set. He led Nadal 4-2 but was only to win one more game as the world number one belatedly showed his class. However, it was one of the matches of the season so far and, with Wimbledon following a month after the French Open, Murray will hope it signals a return to form. 

Stanislas Wawrinka will be hoping to build on his Australian Open success in Paris. The Swiss player is currently number three in the world and beat Djokovic, Nadal and Tomas Berdych on the way to his first Grand Slam title. 

He then, on clay, won the Monte Carlo Masters, beating David Ferrer on the way to a three set win over compatriot Roger Federer. Wawrinka has said in the past that clay is his favourite surface and he will look to back up that claim, in Paris. 

In the women's game Serena Williams has returned to form after an injury-hit start to the season. Her win in the Italian Open, the last major tournament before Paris, saw a return to form after she was forced to pull out of the Madrid Masters with a thigh injury. 

As injury affected her performance in the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the season, she will be anxious to make amends at the French, especially as she is defending the title. 

Her comfortable win over Sara Errani in Rome was needed to put those fitness concerns to one side and, with Wimbledon following just a month after Paris, she will need to be in peak condition to face those two Grand Slam hurdles. 

Li Na lost out to Errani in the quarterfinals in Rome but, as the world number two in the WTA rankings, she is one of the players best placed to take over from Williams in due course. She won the French Open in 2011 and won her second Grand Slam earlier this year, in the Australian Open. 

She has reached the final of one tournament since, the Miami Masters where she lost in straight sets to Williams. However, it was something of a missed opportunity for the Chinese player as she had led 5-2 in the first set and had a set point before Williams showed the form to justify her number one ranking and Li won just one game in the second set.

Maria Sharapova is another in mixed form ahead of the tournament. She has won titles in Stuttgart and Madrid but the French Open champion of two years ago lost early in Rome, beaten in straight sets by Ana Ivanovic. She is down to number eight in the world rankings and, after a fourth round exit in Melbourne, needs a better tournament in the second Grand Slam of the season. 

Agnieska Radwanska is another woman in the top 10, with ambitions of doing well over the next two majors, starting in France. Ranked number three in the world, Radwanska is yet to win a Grand Slam; the nearest she has come was a losing finalist at Wimbledon in 2012. She reached the quarter-finals in Paris last year before losing to Sara Errani. 

Victoria Azarenka is to miss the tournament with a foot injury but Simona Halep, now ranked a career high of four in the world, will want to consolidate that with a good summer, especially in the majors. She has had a good start to 2014, reaching the last eight in Melbourne before winning the Qatar Open, beating Angelique Kerber in the final. 

She also reached the final of the Madrid tournament, winning the first set against Sharapova before losing in three. She left the Italian Open early, withdrawing before the third round due to injury but, fitness permitting, will want a long run in the French to cement her place among the game's elite.