The bid for the French Open title begins Sunday, May 24, 2008. Roger has a pretty favorable quarter of the draw with players against whom he has decent records. Potential quarterfinal opponents for Roger are either Richard Gasquet or Igor Andreev, but given Gasquet’s unfortunate troubles recently, Andreev is more likely to make to the quarters with his tough, heavy, and penetrating forehand, which provides trouble for a lot of his opponents. In the semis (if Roger makes it, which he should), the most likely opponent will be world number 4, Nikolay Davydenko given his past history of performing well on the dirt in Paris.

I think Roger’s half of the draw will be business as usual for the top players, but the bottom half with be more demanding in later rounds with players such as Nalbandian, Youzhny, Canas, Moya, Djokovic, and Nadal. Slowly but surely, Djokovic is nipping away at Nadal’s number two position, and those two have a potential meeting in the semis. As the three-time defending champion, all the pressure is on Nadal, and Roger thinks that this is his time to strike;

“I’m the one playing aggressive, I’m the one trying hard. I’m the one taking risks in these matches so I think I have a positive chance of winning here.

“Two years ago I was more pessimistic because I saw Rafa was completely dominating the game on clay. But now I think I am really close and I believe I have good tactics.

“I showed that in Monte Carlo and Hamburg. Just one point here and there makes the difference.”

I feel this year’s French Open will be very exciting and passionate because the three top players have some much at stake: Roger completing the career Grand Slam and making a good start in a stretch of very important tournaments in the next three and a half months. Nadal four-peting and retaining his spot as the world’s number two, and Djokovic treatening Nadal and making up more ground on Roger.

Also, the tennis world will say good-bye to one of its finest in Gustavo Kuerten with his official retirement after this year’s French. It should make for most great tennis in the upcoming two weeks.