2009 FRENCH OPEN: WOMEN’S DRAW PREVIEW

“If I continue like this I have a very good chance here (at Roland Garros).”

No sh*t, Dinara! Safina has a 14-1 record on clay this season and the added confidence of being World No. 1 and last year’s runner up to the now-ailing Ana Ivanovic. Like Rafael Nadal on the men’s side, I had no trouble filling in Safina’s little section of the French Open draw.

The rest gets messy.

It’s going to be a battle to face Dinara in the top quarter, with Ana Ivanovic, Victoria Azarenka, and Carla Suarez Navarro all good contenders.

It will be a knock-down, all-out BRAWL to be Safina’s semifinal opponent. I count at least ELEVEN players with a decent chance of making it through the second quarter. Speaking of eleven, Venus Williams is one of the top seeds in this section, as is Vera Zvonareva, who is coming off of a bad ankle injury. Petrova, Alona Bondarenko, Lisicki, Safarova, Dulko, Mauresmo, Li Na, Cibulkova and Szavay are all in the mix. I didn’t even count Maria Sharapova. Sharpen those nails, girls!

The bottom half of the draw is slightly less turbulent, with Jankovic and Dementieva the top seeds in the third quarter (we’ll see what Wozniacki has to say about that) and Serena and Kuznetsova anchoring the bottom. Clay-court mavens Schiavone, Schnyder and Pennetta could cause some trouble in this half, too.

Here’s the breakdown:

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