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Rafael Nadal comes into the tournament, which begins May 27 at Roland Garros, in strong form on his favored surface, while Serena Williams is set to make her return to the major championship stage in the women's tournament.
Nadal, who is the defending champion on the men's side, is in search of his 11th French Open title, while Williams will be chasing her 24th overall Grand Slam crown.
Nadal won't face a challenge from Roger Federer, who is skipping the clay court season, but he will be tested by some of the other top players in the world.
The women's tournament has seen four winners in the last four years, with Jelena Ostapenko winning it all a year ago. The king of the clay court is expected to cruise into the later rounds at Roland Garros once again, and this time Nadal will do so as the No. 1 player in the ATP World Rankings.
The 31-year-old Spaniard defeated Alexander Zverev in three sets to win the tune-up event in Rome, in which he also knocked off Novak Djokovic in the semifinals.
Nadal enters with wins in three of his last four tournaments, with victories also coming in Monte Carlo and Barcelona. The only loss suffered by the left-handed player since April came in the quarterfinals in Barcelona to Dominic Thiem, who is in search of his first major.
In addition to being in impressive form on the clay, Nadal's strung together a solid collection of recent Grand Slam results.
Nadal won the 2017 French Open and U.S. Open and reached the quarterfinal round of the 2018 Australian Open.
Although a number of contenders, like Zverev, Thiem and Djokovic, are lining up to strip Nadal from his throne, he has to be the favorite because of his impeccable track record in ParisMuch of the fanfare on the women's side of the draw should surround Williams, and rightfully so, but the 23-time Grand Slam winner won't enter Roland Garros as the favorite.
Simona Halep has been a fixture in the late rounds of major tournaments, as she's made two of the last four championship matches.
Despite all of the success she's achieved in her career, Halep is still in search of her first major, which adds extra pressure to a tournament that has plenty of title contenders. Halep fell in the 2018 Australian Open final to Caroline Wozniacki and lost to surprise champion Ostapenko a year ago at Roland Garros.
The No. 1 player in the WTA World Rankings will face stiff competition from Elina Svitolina, who beat the Romanian in straight sets in the final in Rome. In addition to Svitolina, the last two champions at Roland Garros, Garbine Muguruza and Ostapenko, as well as 2014 French Open Maria Sharapova, could pose threats to Halep's chase for her first major victory.
While Halep is expected to go far, there is a possibility chaos erupts in the women's bracket, like it did a year ago when just three of the top 10 seeds advanced to the quarterfinals.Williams, a three-time French Open champion, is expected to play in her first major since giving birth to her daughter in September.
While Williams can enter Roland Garros under the WTA's protected or "special" ranking rule, it's up to Grand Slam organisers to give her a seed.While she was No 1 when she left the tour to give birth, Williams is currently ranked No 453. Without a seeding, the 23-time Grand Slam champion risks facing highly ranked players in the early rounds.
The WTA is considering a rule change to add protected seeding for highly ranked players returning from maternity leave but the earliest that could take effect is next year.Several of Williams' biggest rivals believe she deserves a seeding."I would like to see that (rule) change," Maria Sharapova said at the Italian Open last week."It's such an incredible effort for a woman to come back from physically, emotionally. ... There's just another whole dimension to the travel, to the experiences, to the emotions to the physicality of every single day.
"Tennis is such a selfish sport but I think when there's a child in your life you lose a little bit of that, because there's something that's so much more important," added Sharapova, who has lost three Grand Slam finals to Williams. "So, yeah, I definitely think that would be a nice change."
The French Open draw will be made on Thursday, with the tournament starting on Sunday.
"It's normal to give birth. It's normal to have protected ranking. ... It's more than tennis," top-ranked Simona Halep said. "So the people will decide what seed she will get. But in my opinion it's good to protect the ranking when someone is giving birth."
Williams returned to the tour briefly in March after a 14-month absence. She was not seeded at tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami, and compiled two wins and two losses.
Williams has recounted the difficulties she faced in childbirth, and a pulmonary embolism made it hard for her to breathe shortly after her daughter was born. But after a period of training, coach Patrick Mouratoglou last week told the WTA tour website, "Serena will play the French Open to win it."
Current rules covering maternity leave and injuries allow a protected or "special" ranking to be utilised for entry into tournaments but not for seeding purposes regardless of the reason for a player's absence.
However, this past year the WTA adjusted the rule so that absences for maternity leave are treated the same as those for injury and illness by providing all players a two-year window to begin using a special ranking, plus an additional year from the date of return to utilise the special ranking.
"Historically, WTA players have not been supportive of the use of special rankings for seeding purposes," the WTA said in a statement to The AP. "The rule is currently under further review as part of our 2019 rules process. We remain committed to evolving with the needs of our players and are very supportive of those players returning from maternity leave to the tour."
