With no Justine Henin to dominate, the battle for the women's crown at Roland Garros over the next two weeks will be intense, with four or five girls battling it out for the title. Let's look at a few in close-up:

Serena Williams: In a rich vein of form and on a winning streak which rolled over to one clay court crown this year in Charleston. Since then she lost a tight encounter against Dinara Safina in Berlin and had to pull out in the middle of her Rome campaign with a back injury.

Serena's clay court game as been extremely impressive this year as her rhythm and sjot making has dominated, with impressive wins over most of the top players this year, Serena seems to have all the weaponry to win her second Roland Garros crown.

'Can she [Sharapova] really pull off the very Slam so many people believe is beyond her?'


In her defeat in Berlin she committed too many errors, but her focus will bessolid in Paris. As for her injury, a good week of preparation should shake it off.

In the bottom half of the draw, Serena will square off against fellow American Ashley Harkleroad in the first round. The No. 5 seed is projected to have a potentially dangerous encounter with Ana Ivanovic in the quarter-final and a possibly a semi-final against sister Venus or an in-form Jelena Jankovic.

Maria Sharapova: The current Australian Open champion finally won her first title on clay as she battled hard to dominate in Amelia Island. Since then she has fallen to Serena in Charleston and had to pull out in Rome with injury.

It’s clear that Maria isn’t the best clay court player in the field, however her consistency at an impressive level gives her more than just hope of lifting the title. Can she really pull off the very Slam so many people believe is beyond her?

As the No. 1 seed Maria is in the easier top half. She plays Evgeniya Rodina in the first round. However the Russian has a potential fourth round match with giant killer Dinara Safina who inflicted the only clay court defeats on Justine Henin and Serena Williams this year.

Also the No. 7 seed, Elena Dementieva, could await her in the quarters, not to mention a possible all-Russian semi-final with Anna Chakvetadze or Svetlana Kuznetsova. It all seems to be piling up for Maria as her first major challenge is a Russian slaughter fest!

Ana Ivanovic: Last year nerves got the better of her, but since then she has learned from her mistakes and put in a serious bid in her second Slam final. However Ana’s problem is her form, as she has been less than excellent this clay court season, a complete contrast to last year’s display of beauty.

But the Serbian No. 1 has grown up a lot and is capable of building up her form as she goes through the draw. By capturing so many hearts last year, she won’t be short of support.

The No. 2 at Roland Garros seed will face Sofia Arvidsson in the first round and may have to pitch big against Nicole Vaidisova later on in preparation with a block-buster encounter with Serena Williams in the quarter-final. Given that she can reach the semi-finals she may have to face Venus Williams or fellow Serbian Jelena Jankovic. 

Jelena Jankovic: With the most recent successful title defence in Rome Jelena is full of confidence. She not only has a real chance to make her first Grand Slam final, but a great shot of winning one. Jankovic’s fierce movement and brutal shots equipped with a never-give-up attitude make her a real contender.

Jelena will start proceedings off against a qualifier. Things will start to heat up for her with a possible encounter against Venus Williams in the quarter-finals.

But she is ready for that as, on Venus’s return on the clay in Rome; Jelena had the pleasure of booting her out in a tough three-setter. Her potential semi-final opponents may be Serena Williams or fellow Serbian Ana Ivanovic.

Venus Williams: Has just returned to clay and made a great start in Rome, losing finally to Jankovic. With great focus the No. 8 seed has the opportunity to once again turn the odds upsidedown at Roland Garros.

Elena Dementieva has had  great clay court season so far. She made the final in Berlin and saw off Ivanovic as well as Jankovic. She lurks in Sharapova’s half and wishes to rekindle her threat to the Grand Slams, as the last time that happened was all the way back into 2006.

Dinara Safina could potentially score yet another big win, this time against Sharapova, if she can find the form that took her to the Berlin title.

In last year’s French Open Alize Cornet had nothing to lose and played a good match against Venus Williams in the first round before she was out. But she has been very good on clay this season with a final appearance in Rome and semi-final appearances on the green clay. Now can she make do it in front of her home crowd?

Can Maria Sharapova see off her fellow Russians? Ultimately who will conquer the lower half of the draw, the Williams sisters or the Serbians? It’s wide open, but which one will conquer Paris?