TENNIS in DEPTH.

What do Victoria Azarenka, Elena Dementieva, Petra Kvitova, Serena Williams, Amelie Mauresmo, Vera Zvonareva, Venus Williams, Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, Marion Bartoli, Jelena Jankovic, Caroline Wozniacki, Sabine Lisicki, Roberta Vinci, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Anabel Medina Garrigues have in common?

The answer is they have all won WTA Tour titles this season. Of those names, only Azarenka, Dementieva, Zvonareva and Venus Williams have lifted more than one trophy.

And, despite there being 15 names on the list, the world number one – Dinara Safina – is not among them.

Neither is Ana Ivanovic, last year’s French Open winner, and trying to pick a potential champion for this month’s tournament feels a little like searching for a needle in a haystack.

All this, of course, is in stark contrast to the men’s singles, where Rafael Nadal – who has never lost a match at Roland Garros – looks more unbeatable than ever.

Serena Williams is the favourite with most bookmakers, and rightly so considering her big-match mentality and grand slam record.

Of the current crop of players, only sister Venus, with seven major titles, comes close to Serena’s 10, and Venus has never won the French Open.

Serena is chasing a third successive slam success after picking up the US Open and Australian Open titles but her solitary victory at Roland Garros came back in 2002.

Clay is also her least natural surface and she has been struggling with a thigh injury recently.

Of the other contenders, Jankovic and Dementieva have so far failed to turn consistent victories on the WTA Tour into grand slam titles.

Ivanovic has been in freefall since her Paris triumph 12 months ago and a repeat would be a major surprise.

Azarenka and Zvonareva have been the form players of the season but are unproven at the highest level while promising teenagers like Wozniacki and Lisicki are still only on the verge of real world class.

In many ways, this should be Safina’s time. The Russian has had a gradual rise to the top and has twice reached grand slam finals, including at Roland Garros last year.

However, a thrashing at the hands of Serena Williams in Melbourne in January was one of three final defeats this year, the latest of which came in Stuttgart at the weekend.

Svetlana Kuznetsova proved too strong, beating her fellow 23-year-old 6-4 6-3 for her first title in nearly two years, and Safina admitted it was a wake-up call.

“I wasn’t tired and, in a way, it is a good test for me so close to the French Open to see what I need to work on,” said the world number one.

Kuznetsova may well emerge as the dark horse having so far failed to build on her sole grand slam success at the US Open in 2004.

She was a finalist in Paris in 2006 and feels re-energised having changed coaches and moved back to Moscow from Spain.

“I changed so many things in the last year, pretty much everything you can change in your career, so this win is a good sign,” she said.

The king of clay has his crown firmly set in place but finding a queen looks set to be a lot less predictable.

Courtesy Eleanor Crooks  PA Sport.

Related Posts:

• Jankovic and Azarenka meet in the next round.
• Will Kuznetsova win another?
• Wimbledon hopefuls head to Eastbourne.

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