PARIS - There were two great disappointments as the French Open draw unfolded yesterday. First was the withdrawal of Serena Williams because of an ankle injury.
Then, there was the fact that Spanish teenager Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are on the same side of the draw and thus unable to meet in the final.
Williams, who won the Australian Open, sprained her left ankle in mid-April. She tried playing in the Italian Open last week, but lost her opening match to Francesca Schiavone in straight sets.
The best women players, who last year were looking over their shoulders at the Russians marching toward the top, this year will be looking back at the growing specter of Justine Henin-Hardenne.
The 5-foot-5 Belgian, finally recovered from a viral infection and knee injury, has won 17 straight matches, all on clay, and her 6-2, 6-4 win over Maria Sharapova in the quarterfinals in Berlin makes her the clear favorite here.
She will open against Conchita Martinez, whom she has beaten all six times they've met, with four love sets.
On the men's side, it became clear that if Nadal is to become the first man in 23 years to win the French Open on his first try, it will come only after two weeks of great labor.
Yesterday, he drew Lars Burgsmuller of Germany in the first round and, having swept him in Indian Wells, Calif., a year ago, shouldn't be bothered by him on clay, a surface on which Nadal is 31-2 this season.
After that, things get progressively more difficult - through probably Frenchman Richard Gasquet in the third round, Sebastien Grosjean in the fourth, defending champion Gaston Gaudio in the quarterfinals and Federer in the semifinals.
None of this unfriendly draw, however, has tended to make Nadal, who will turn 19 on June 3, any less a favorite to become the first male since Mats Wilander in 1982 to win in his Roland Garros debut.
No one in the men's tournament profited more by the draw than Andre Agassi, 35, whose most threatening opponents through to the semifinals are Guillermo Canas and Ivan Ljubicic.
Andy Roddick, who splits time between Austin, Texas, and Boca Raton, Fla., is seeded second and will face French teenager Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the first round. If he gets by Tsonga, he'll probably play Argentinian Jose Acasuso in the second.
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel is a Tribune Publishing newspaper.
French Open Seeds
Men
