Just How Open Is The Open?

Francesca Schiavone's brazen, joyful run to the French Open title - a perfect storm of lifelong desire, hard work, affinity for surface and conviction - made her the first first-time Grand Slam winner since Ana Ivanovic won at Roland Garros in 2008. And perhaps the most surprising since Iva Majoli won in Paris in 1997. Could a similarly unexpected result be in store at Flushing Meadows this coming fortnight? With Serena Williams and Justine Henin sidelined by injury, the 2010 US Open is being described as one of the most up-for-grabs ever. But the field still harbors five players who've already proven they have what it takes to win a major. In fact, four of them have won this particular event: Kim Clijsters, Venus Williams, Svetlana Kuznetsova, and Maria Sharapova.

With the exception of Venus, who missed the lead-ups, all have shown good form this summer. Kuznetsova resurrected her season by winning San Diego. Clijsters captured Cincinnati a year after launching her comeback there and is .875 (21-3) on hardcourts this year - the same success rate as Venus (14-2). Sharapova held match points in the Cincy final and with a runner-up showing at Stanford to Victoria Azarenka also to her credit has safely re-established herself as a contender post-shoulder blues.

Ivanovic, who was looking like a new, improved version of her old self in Cincinnati, is the other Grand Slam champion in the field. But she may have to spring an upset early, as she won't be protected by a seeding. Then there seven players who've almost tasted Grand Slam glory: Caroline Wozniacki, Vera Zvonareva, Samantha Stosur, Elena Dementieva, Jelena Jankovic, Dinara Safina and Marion Bartoli have all finished runner-up at at least one Grand Slam - with Dementieva, Jankovic and Wozniacki doing it in the Big Apple.

Among this group 20-year-old world No.2 Wozniacki, who will be top seed at a major for the first time, has the momentum. Her title run at the Rogers Cup last week was the biggest of her career, and third of the season, a feat matched only by Clijsters. She continues to play a very full schedule - at times through injury - but left Montréal with a 41-14 record, the most wins of any of the top players.

Having put the ankle injury that wrecked her last surge towards the top behind her, Zvonareva also could be on the brink of something big. Runner-up to Wozniacki in Montréal, she wasn't happy with the way she handled that final - or indeed the Wimbledon final against Serena - but she's a smart, passionate competitor who will have learned lessons.

Stosur hasn't sparkled on grass or hardcourts the way she did on clay in the spring, but the French Open finalist's preparations have been stymied by an arm injury. Still, she reached the semis at Stanford and is 38-12 for the season (but amazingly, only 2-6 lifetime at Flushing Meadows). Likewise Dementieva and Jankovic have gone off the boil: They won Montréal and Cincinnati respectively last year, so this summer has been comparatively disappointing - especially, perhaps, for Jankovic, who had worked her way back to No.2. The potential upside for both classy campaigners is that they haven't overplayed, and know they can beat anyone.

France's Bartoli can never be discounted either. She was charmingly indignant when journalists suggested it was a surprise when she reached the final at Wimbledon in 2007 - just the sort of attitude that would serve her well if she pushes deep. The 25-year-old loves hardcourts and while she didn't manage to defend her Stanford crown has been to three quarterfinals on this swing.

Of the younger generation Wozniacki's contemporaries, Azarenka and Agnieszka Radwanska, are surely due a breakthrough. Radwanska has been characteristically consistent of late, her best result reaching the final in San Diego. As well as winning Stanford, Azarenka got through to the semis at Montréal before retiring mid-match. Neither has been past the quarters of a major and if that is still the case after this tournament they may well consider it a collective failure.

Veterans, Upset Artists, Hardcourt Queens, Teens...

Who else has the chops to 'do a Schiavone' from lower down the ranks of expectation - or at least produce the kind of display shown by shock Wimbledon semifinalists Tsvetana Pironkova and Petra Kvitova, now seeded for a first time at a Slam?

Could it be Schiavone's fellow Italian Flavia Pennetta, as dangerous on hardcourts as on clay, albeit trailing the pace she set by winning Los Angeles last year and ascending to the Top 10? The over-25 set also includes Nadia Petrova and Daniela Hantuchova, who both possess A-List games but perhaps not industrial strength belief. Or what about Chinese No.1 Li Na, who used to be physically brittle but this year has tasted life in the Top 10 thanks to improved consistency.

Matching Azarenka and Radwanska with 23 wins on hardcourts this year is Shahar Peer (23-11, .676). Now 23, the Israeli worked her way back into the Top 20 with a hot spell in the first part of the season, culminating in a runner-up effort to Venus at Dubai, where she upset Wozniacki along the way. She loves playing in New York, where she reached the last eight in 2007 and attracts plenty of support from the Jewish community.

Drilling down the ranks, Alisa Kleybanova has proven herself an upset artist of the first order - a useful talent when chasing Grand Slam glory. Now 21, the powerhouse Russian made headlines at the 2009 Australian Open when she beat then-No.5 Ana Ivanovic in the third round. While her ranking has hit a plateau in the twenties, she has continued to notch big wins.

A particular nemesis of Jankovic, whom she beat at both Toronto and Moscow last year, and again at San Diego a few weeks ago, she also has a win over Venus to her name, at Madrid last year. This year, she beat Dementieva in the final at Kuala Lumpur for her first Tour singles title. Also noteworthy: a third round defeat of then-No.17 Clijsters on the hardcourts of Indian Wells.

Winning a title - any title - matters, and the Tour's post-Wimbledon return to Europe also produced some interesting results. Ranked outside the Top 100, former world No.5 Anna Chakvetadze halted her career free-fall by winning her eighth career title at Portoroz. Hungary's Agnes Szavay, who seemed to be on a fast track to the Top 10 before suffering sophomore blues won back-to-back titles at Budapest and Prague - on clay, but still an important boost. Her breakthrough in 2007 was highlighted by beating Jankovic on hardcourts in the final at Beijing.

And then there's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Taking her new post as highest-ranked teenager in stride, the 19-year-old won her second Tour title on hardcourts at Istanbul, having won the first at Monterrey in the spring. Now knocking on the door of the Top 20, she has won more hardcourt matches this year than any other player in the Top 100 (26-9), ahead of Azarenka and Radwanska (23 apiece). Her win-loss percentage on the surface (.743) is also up there with the best.

Does the young Russian have what it takes to be the first teen to win a major since Sharapova's 2006 victory at Flushing Meadows? Southern belle Melanie Oudin, hoping to recapture the magic of her heroic run to last year's quarterfinals after a rugged few months, will be hoping to get in first. Or will this year's fairytale involve an against-all-odds triumph by a resurgent, less stressed Ivanovic or Safina? Stay tuned.