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Compiled from Times wiresThere are no clear favorites, typical of the Grand Slam event that boasts few repeat male champs. For the women, the favorites are obvious.
PARIS - Pete Sampras never won the French Open. Neither did John McEnroe or Stefan Edberg. Jimmy Connors and Boris Becker did not reach a final at Roland Garros.
All had a lot of success elsewhere, of course: a total of 37 Grand Slam titles.
On the other hand, the list of French Open champions does include such one-hit wonders as Michael Chang (1989), Andres Gomez (1990) and Thomas Muster (1995).
Albert Costa might be destined to join the group of men with one major triumph, but he said Sunday that is okay with him as he prepares to defend his French Open title.
"I'm not feeling the pressure," the ninth-seeded Spaniard said. "Now, I don't care. If I play good, I'm going to have a good ranking. If I play bad, I'm not going to have a good ranking. Things are simple."
What is far from simple is predicting which man will win the year's second Grand Slam event. While it is hard to imagine someone other than a Williams or a Belgian taking the women's title, the men's field is wide open, as usual.
Costa put the number of contenders at about 20 and rattled off a veritable who's who of tennis.
"A lot of players can win here. If I have to choose two, I will choose (Juan Carlos) Ferrero and (Carlos) Moya," he said. "There are a lot of players that can do really good on clay. Argentines are very good. The Spanish are really good. There are some others, like (Andre) Agassi, (Gustavo) Kuerten."
Those he mentioned do have strong credentials:
No.3-seeded Ferrero reached last year's final and has gone 21-2 on clay this year, with titles at Monte Carlo and Valencia.
No.4 Moya is the only other man with two clay titles this year, and he won the 1998 French Open (his lone major title).
No.15 Kuerten is a three-time champion at Roland Garros (and never has been past the quarterfinals at another major).
No.2 Agassi counts the 1999 French Open among his eight career Grand Slam titles, including this year's Australian Open. At 33, he is the oldest player in the 128-man field.
There are others in the mix, too, such as top-ranked Lleyton Hewitt or No.5 Roger Federer (12-2 on clay this year).
Agassi plays Karol Beck today, when Moya faces Filippo Volandri, Coria takes on Wimbledon quarterfinalist Andre Sa and Federer meets Luis Horna. Also playing today: Tampa's James Blake, seeded 24th, meets fellow American Taylor Dent.
The honor of playing the opening match on center court goes to Serena Williams, trying to become the first woman since Steffi Graf in 1988-89 to win five straight majors. The defending champion meets Barbara Rittner, ranked 87th.
"It's important for me to go out in the first few rounds and just do my best and not lose focus," Williams said. "I'm feeling really good and confident about my game. And I think that's what matters most.
"... I'm just here to have fun. I'm not here to defend the title, just to try and win the tournament. I think that's the best way to look at it."
Fourth-seeded Justine Henin-Hardenne - who stopped Williams' season-opening 21-match winning streak - plays Patricia Wartusch. Venus Williams, runner-up to her sister at the past four majors, No.2 Kim Clijsters, a 2001 French Open finalist, and Saddlebrook's Jennifer Capriati, the 2001 champion, start Tuesday.
Serena Williams professes to be a big fan of clay, which can dull powerful shots and make for slower points.
"I actually can be lazier. I don't have to work as hard," she said. "I can be out of the point and get back in the point, so I really like that."
Count Sampras among those who do not.
He has a record 14 Grand Slam titles, but only once was a semifinalist in Paris. Sampras won five French Open matches the past six years combined, so his recent withdrawal was not as surprising as his decision not to play at Wimbledon.
Others who have been frustrated in France: McEnroe and Edberg both lost title matches, and Arthur Ashe never reached a final. John Newcombe won seven majors, but failed to get past the quarterfinals at the French Open.
Since 1983, eight men who won the French Open failed to duplicate that success at the Australian Open, Wimbledon or U.S. Open (does the name Sergi Bruguera ring a bell?). Over that span, one female French Open champion - 1997's Iva Majoli - never won at another major tournament.
Costa is the epitome of a come-from-nowhere major champion.
Last year's French Open is his only singles title at any level since August 1999, a stretch of 88 events. He did not go beyond the quarterfinals at 85 of those.
"The most important thing is to believe that you can win this tournament," Costa said. "To believe "why not?"'