Can anyone dethrone Nadal, Williams at Roland Garros 2014?
Is anyone out there capable of beating serial winners Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams at Roland Garros 2014?
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Nearly 500,0000 spectators watched the thrills and spills of the French Open 2013 at the site on the western fringes of Paris. Another three billion followed proceedings at the second grand slam of the season on television.
The 2014 extravaganza arrives with its usual subplots and narratives.
The key question is who will dethrone Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams?
The men's world number one appears unusually vulnerable. In his pomp the clay court season was a harvest of trophies. Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Madrid and Rome were all conquered before he added Paris to his list.
This year Nadal, who's seeking title number nine in Paris, lost in the quarter finals at Monte Carlo and Barcelona. The world order was restored when he claimed the Madrid Masters but he lost in the final at the Italian Open to Novak Djokovic.
The Serbian world number two is intent on adding the French Open to his portfolio. It's the only major missing and he wants to join the pantheon of men who have collected titles at all four grand slam venues. Nadal and Roger Federer are the only active players on that list.
Djokovic, who recently announced that he and his fiancée were expecting their first child, certainly has the potency to achieve the feat.
He came from a set down to beat Nadal in Rome and last year took him to five sets in their epic semi-final.
The seedings say that Nadal and Djokovic will meet in the men's final on 8 June. It will be the showdown for anyone seeking the next twist in their 41 match rivalry.
At the moment Serena Williams seems peerless. The world number one scythed her way through the field to win the Italian Open. An injured Sara Errani offered some resistance in the first set before losing the second 6-0. It was a merciful execution on the Campo Centrale in Rome.
Williams gained her 60th title and enters the French Open nearing her 33rd birthday as the alpha female. It's a stunnnig accomplishment. She won the US Open in 1999 and has displayed a longevity normally associated with a gentler, more graceful time on the women's circuit.
Her main adversary will be her health. She was carrying a thigh injury into the Italian Open as well as fellow thirtysomething Li Na who won in Paris in 2011. The Chinese world number two has the game to unnerve Williams. But then so does Maria Sharapova but she can't seem to find it when the two meet.
Sharapova collected the 2012 Roland Garros title but lost in last year's final to Williams. Anyone who was on centre court to witness Williams's last service game would have known the meaning of futility.
When normal athletes might have been edgy, Williams served three aces, the last one on match point at around 180 kmh.
That's not normal. But then neither is Williams and someone on the women's circuit is going to have to show themselves as extraordinary to wrest the crown from her grasp.
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