Roland Garros: A Look at the Women's Draw

Did you really doubt it was going to happen?
When the seedings were announced, fans everywhere had to be wondering who was going to lose the Justine Henin sweepstakes. When the people who determine the seeds chose not to promote the four-time champion above her ranking (23rd, but seeded 22nd with Kim Clijsters' withdrawal) you knew the draw was going to suffer for it, but who knew it would suffer this much?
For the entire women's draw, go here: http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/scores/draws/ws/index.html
Top Half
Wow. That's all that really needs to be said. The women in this draw have won a combined 32 Grand Slam singles titles, and 22 of those titles are in the top quarter. Serena Williams leads the way and will be looking for her second Roland Garros title. If she gets it, she'll be looking at the possibility of winning the Grand Slam, the first time any singles player has done so since 1988. And there aren't too many obstacles in her way before the quarterfinals. Melinda Czink could be tricky in the second round, as could Shahar Peer or Marion Bartoli in the Round of 16, but I think Serena's early draw looks pretty good.
It's the section right below her that could be all kinds of fun. Maria Sharapova's going to come in having just played a tournament this week (Strasbourg) and she's in the third set of a semifinal match as I write this. Her first two rounds look pretty easy, but she was the aforementioned loser of the Justine Henin sweepstakes. If Henin's healthy (and gets through her potentially-tricky early rounds), we'll have a blockbuster third round to look forward to. Whoever gets through there will most likely play Samantha Stosur in the Round of 16 – and then Serena could be looming. If Serena vs. Henin does happen, we could see some fireworks. Serena's still got some lingering hard feelings from their 2003 semifinal, and it will be interesting to see if she can overcome that.
The second quarter isn't exactly a walk in the park either. Fourth-seeded Jelena Jankovic stands out as the favorite here, but there are some unseeded dangers lurking, including Carla Suarez-Navarro and 2008 champion Ana Ivanovic. I think both could make runs here. The 2008 and 2009 runner-up, Dinara Safina, is also in this section, but her warm-up results haven't been anything to write home about. The good news is that the tennis gods gave her a good draw. It remains to be seen if she can take advantage of that.
Bottom Half
After so much action in the top half of the draw, this almost feels like a let down. Defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova and third-seeded Caroline Wozniacki are the headliners here, but Kuznetsova's looked dreadful this year, and when exactly has Wozniacki had time to recover from that ankle injury she had at the start of the clay season? It's hard to like Kuznetsova's chances, given her draw. She ended up with Sorana Cirstea (defending quarterfinalist and top unseeded player) in the first round, and, should she survive that, there are all kinds of tough players to come. Unless she finds the magic that won her last year's title, her stay in Paris could be very short this year.
Wozniacki's luck wasn't much better. She could have Tathiana Garbin in the second round, an opponent who knows how to beat off-form top players. After that, Alexandra Dulgheru should be favored to make the third round, and Flavia Pennetta or Lucie Safarova could come in the Round of 16. Wozniacki better hope that ankle's in good shape if she's going to stand a prayer at doing well.
Most of the top contenders landed in the top quarter, but for my money, most of the secondary ones ended up in the bottom quarter. Elena Dementieva, the 2004 runner-up, could end up with Anabel Medina Garrigues in the second round and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez or Victoria Azarenka in the Round of 16. No doubt there's dangers there, but if she's feeling good, she can get through that.
Venus probably ended up with the hardest draw after Henin's. She ended up with Patty Schnyder, who has slipped, but is still dangerous, in the first round. It's unlikely, but an upset there wouldn't stun me. Last year's semifinalist, Dominika Cibulkova, could be lurking in the third round and then possibly Aravane Rezai or former semifinalist Nadia Petrova in the fourth round. If she's going to get through, Venus is going to have to hit the ground running. Otherwise, she might have plenty of time to get ready for Wimbledon.

What's Going to Happen?
Who knows? With the way this season has gone, you've got to be gutsier than usual to make a prediction. My money says the winner comes out of the top half. Beyond that, Jelena Jankovic might be best set up for a win – nice draw, not too easy, not too hard. That's assuming she doesn't meet a rested, confident Justine Henin in the semis, though. Henin's draw might be a little too tough for her to go all the way, or she (or whoever comes out of that quarter) might find the semis and finals easy after the early rounds. For some reason, no matter what happens in the warm-ups, Henin seems to become a different player once she reaches to Paris. We'll find out pretty quickly if that's changed. Anyway, here's a few guesses, starting with the Round of 16:
Williams vs. Peer
Henin vs. Stosur
Jankovic vs. Suarez-Navarro
Zvonareva vs. Ivanovic
Cirstea vs. Schiavone
Safarova vs. Wozniacki
Dementieva vs. Martinez Sanchez
Petrova vs. Williams

Quarterfinals
Williams vs. Henin
Jankovic vs. Ivanovic
Schiavone vs. Wozniacki
Dementieva vs. Petrova

Semifinals
Henin vs. Jankovic
Wozniacki vs. Dementieva

Finals
Henin vs. Dementieva

Champion
Henin