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Paris Is Nice This Time of Year, N'est Pas?
By
Kyle Gustafson
Published May 24, 2004
Modified Mar 6, 2008
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By
Kyle Gustafson
Published May 24, 2004
Modified Mar 6, 2008
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The 2004 French Open gets underway at Roland Garros today. The pre tourney buzz is, as usual, all on the womens side of the field.
47-year-old Martina Navratilova will be playing singles for the first time in a decade. Navratilova, who won the French Open in 1982 and 1984, will face Gisela Dulko, a 19-year-old Argentine born one year after her last French title.
The seeding on the womens side drew some criticism when both Venus and Serena Williams were given a "protected ranking" by the WTA. The exception, which takes into account their records before being sidelined by injuries last year, resulted in the sisters being seeded five spots higher than their actual WTA rankings. Serena is seeded No. 2, behind top-ranked and defending champion Justine Henin-Hardenne. Venus is No. 4, a spot below Amelie Mauresmo, the pride of St, Germains en Laye, France.
A number of injuries and illnesses on the womens side will no doubt lead to a wide open tournament. Henin-Hardine is still recovering from a nasty bout of exhaustion, Kim Clijsters, a finalist at Roland Garros in 2001 and 2003, pulled out of the tournament last week with a torn tendon in her left wrist and Venus sprained her ankle last week during a semifinal match in Berlin and was unable to play the final against Mauresmo.
On the mens side, No. 1 ranked Roger Federer, looking to win his third title in the past four majors, will have a difficult go of it given his tough draw. After opening against a qualifier, he could then face Nicolas Kiefer, the highest-ranked unseeded player in the tournament, and his third-round opponent could be three-time French Open winner Gustavo Kuerten.
On the other half of the draw, No. 2 seed Andy Roddick will open against fellow American Todd Martin and could then face Davis Cup teammate Robby Ginepri in the next round, with a potential quarterfinal against Andre Agassi right around the corner. The 34 year old Agassi skipped the usual warm up tournaments in Rome and Berlin and decided to play a tournament in St. Poelten, Austria with disastrous results, losing in the first round to Serbian qualifier Nenad Zimonjic 6-2, 7-6 (6).
The men are also not without injuries. Fourth seed Juan Carlos Ferrero will decide today whether a rib injury will prevent him from defending his French Open title. Asked what the odds are that he will play, the Spaniard said: "It's 60-40 -- 60 that I won't play, 40 that I will."
See the full draw here
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