Roland Garros 2007

Women's Singles
Defending Champion: Justine Henin

First Quarter
All eyes will be on Justine and Serena, as they share four trophies over the past five years; throw in a good scandal the last time they played here, and you've got a mouth-watering drama ready to unfold in Paris. That, aside from them displaying fantastic form this year. I honestly don't see much resistance for either of them not to make it to the second week.

QF Match: Justine vs Serena

Second Quarter
Last year, Jelena Jankovic was a no-namer; this year, she's seeded fourth, with already three titles for 2007. A looming rematch with Venus Williams is in the works, with Venus aiming a revenge for the tight one they played in Charleston. Still, the Serbian is tipped to hang tough and make it to the quarters.

Elena Dementieva is in the mix too, but since she reached the finals of Istanbul, she'd probably wilt against last year's quarterfinalist Anna Lena Groenefeld in the second round. Either way, winning three weeks in a row exhaust the 2004 finalist.

A tussle between last year's claycourt princess (until she crashed out of RG in the opening round) Nadia Petrova and semifinalist Nicole Vaidisova will determine one position in the final 8 of the draw. I'd pick the steadier Russian, unless she chokes though.

QF Match: Jelena vs Nadia

Third Quarter
This section welcomes back the 2004 champion Anastasia Myskina - tough draw though, as she meets compatriot Svetlana in 2R. Kuzzie has reached 3 finals already, and has a clear claycourt pedigree, so expect her to go deep in the draw, all the way to the finals even.

Winner in Berlin, Ana Ivanovic has been gifted a pretty good draw, as she can power past all her opponents, until getting to the 4R, where she's expected to face Daniela. This one could go either way, but Ana's results on clay have been much more stellar than the Slovak.

QF Match: Ana vs Svetlana

Fourth Quarter
It's actually ironic to see that the highest seeds in this draw might not live up to their seedings; Maria (seeded 2nd) and Amelie (seeded 5th) aren't known to play big matches on the clay. Maria faces a dangerous Emelie Loit in the opening round, and this smells like an upset. Should she get past that, a crafty Patty awaits her in 4R.

It's already hard for the French to count on Amelie to win her home Slam, still, the draw has not been kind to her. She'll meet Lucie, who knocked her out of Melbourne earlier this year, and upstart Anna Chakvetadze in the succeeding round. Cross fingers, experience will put her through, at least until the quarters.

QF Match: Amelie vs Patty


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Men's Singles
Defending Champion: Rafael Nadal

First Quarter
There is just one question on everybody's mind: Can Federer finally triumph in Paris, and claim the title Greatest of All Time? Prior to his Hamburg victory, this bid has already been written off, labelling his string of losses as a slump. But after dismantling Nadal's 3-year clay streak, the answer is yes. All he needs is pretty good warmup from quality players, and he'll be well on his way. A 4th round clash with former champ Ferrero, seasoned claycourter Robredo or maybe Safin should prepare (but not deprive) Roger for his moment in history.

QF Match: Federer vs Robredo

Second Quarter
I'm giving one slot in the QF for the hardworking Davydenko, he'll be facing Nalbandian in the R16, but the Argentinean hasn't been playing well recently, so I'll stick to my pick. I just hope he's not too tired from playing in Austria.

It's been a couple of years already, and I still don't know what to make of Gasquet. Baby Fed, they called him, but that star fizzled out due to (very) inconsistent results. He's going to face Federer's recent nemesis, Canas in R32 and Gonzalez in R16, and getting past that seems pretty slim.

QF Match: Davydenko vs Gonzalez

Third Quarter
The heir apparent of Federer has finally arrived. With consistent finishes in Indian Wells, Adelaide and Miami, Djokovic has proven that he's a step above his batchmates of young guns on tour. His section is gifted with lots of qualifiers, and his first big challenge will come in 4R against the experienced Ferrer. This is a tricky one to call, as Ferrer has turned in quite consistent results on the red clay.

The bottom half of the draw will be a total surprise, as there is nobody imposing enough to make an impression in Roland Garros. Baghdatis hasn't quite shown how good he is recently, and Andy Roddick has won 4 matches here in the last 6 years (that's a really bad statistic). It's a second round appearance at best. I hope Mathieu goes through the draw, he was the only one to give Nadal a run for his money in last year's tournament.

QF Match: Djokovic vs Mathieu

Fourth Quarter
It was an inspiring run in Hamburg for Moya, let's hope that this has boosted his confidence in being a threat on clay. With no real contenders in his section, he should rise above them and get to the quarters.

Hewitt may have had a good run on clay recently, but he snagged the rough end of the draw, landing in Nadal's R16 lineup. He almost figured out how to play the King Of Clay, but in a 5-setter environment, expect the defending champion to scramble and tug at every point.

QF Match: Moya vs Nadal