Ten players to watch at French Open

Given how many women players are struggling with health (and confidence) as the French Open begins, we could see some fairly upside-down results this year.

Here are five to keep an eye on.

Justine Henin

During Act I of her career, Henin was far and away the gold standard for women’s clay-court tennis. The last two times she played the French Open, in 2006 and 2007, she took the title without dropping a set. But it’s been three years, and her clay-court preparation was hampered by a bout of sinusitis. Henin could have Maria Sharapova in the third round and Serena Williams in the round of 16. So she’ll have to earn it.

Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez

The 27-year-old Spaniard is an oddity on every level. She’s a lefty, and despite coming from a clay-court, baseline-loving country, she’s a serve-and-volleyer. The field at the big tune-up event in Rome two week ago was absolutely stellar, yet it was Martinez Sanchez who took the title. The No. 20 seed looks to be at least a fourth-rounder; the best player in her way is No. 10 Victoria Azarenka, who has retired with a hamstring issue in three of her last five tournaments.

Aravane Rezai

Known more for the gold lame in her tennis outfits, Rezai hits the ball so hard that fellow players put her in the same category as Serena Williams. That is rarefied air, but the trick for Rezai is to both crush the ball and keep it in the court. She doesn’t seem intimidated by anyone, and comes into her “home Slam” at a career-high No. 16. She should get to the round-of-16 to meet Venus Williams, and she’ll have the country behind her.

Ana Ivanovic

The 2007 finalist and 2008 champion had the best moments of her career in Paris; she became No. 1 in the in Paris two years ago. But her star has dimmed since then, even though she has shown a few encouraging signs of late. Ivanovic has the shaky Dinara Safina and the counterpunching Agnieszka Radwanska in her section, but a potential second-round match against the huge-hitting Alisa Kleybanova will tell her story.

Andrea Petkovic

The up-and-coming German (her current No. 40 ranking is a career best) has a fiery temperament that can work both for her and against her. Petkovic has beaten six top-25 players this year, and is in a wide-open section of the draw. It’s the section containing defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, who has lost four of her last five matches and in no way is expected to contend.

Here are five men to keep an eye on.

Ernest Gulbis

Long hailed as one of the sure things of the new generation, Gulbis’s lack of commitment held him back behind contemporaries like Marin Cilic and Juan Martin del Potro. But lately, with his father’s presence and a newly professional attitude, he has bloomed. As it happens, he could meet No. 10 seed Cilic in the third round, and could drive struggling No. 5 seed Robin Soderling to distraction with his drop shot in the fourth round.

Robin Soderling

The Swede shocked the tennis planet when he upset a below-par Nadal here a year ago, and reached his first Grand Slam final. Soderling lost to Roger Federer in three straight majors (Roland Garros, Wimbledon, U.S. Open), each time going one round less. In Australia, he inexplicably went down in the first round to clay-courter Marcel Granollers after winning the first two sets. In the last two big Masters 1000 events, Soderling won just one match. He’s currently a conundrum.

David Ferrer

No one has won more matches on clay this season. Actually, no one has won more matches, period, this season than the aptly-named Spaniard who makes up in heart and desire for what he lacks in size. Ferrer made three semifinals and a final in his four spring clay-court events, and his draw favours him. He’s in Andy Roddick’s section for the fourth round, and could face the shaky Novak Djokovic in the quarters.

Novak Djokovic

The last time we saw the Serb, he was in street clothes handing out the trophy to American Sam Querrey at the ATP event his family owns in Belgrade two weeks ago. Unfortunately, the world No. 3 retired after losing the first set of his second match during that event, to an up-and-coming kid from his country. It’s always something. And it’s still allergy season for the sniffly, stuffed-up Serb.

. . . The missing

Juan Martin del Potro, Nikolay Davydenko, James Blake, Ivo Karlovic, Carlos Moya, David Nalbandian, Radek Stepanek, Igor Andreev, Mario Ancic and Gilles Simon are all out of the event before it begins. That’s a lot of talent gone AWOL.