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Tennis's French Open Lacks Female Stars

Evan Rothman

Tennis has been one of the few sports in which female players garner as much interest as men. But the women's field at this year's French Open is a little low on star power.

Serena and Venus Williams were ranked second and third, respectively, in the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour rankings. But Venus Williams has already been defeated at the French Open by Agnes Szavay, a player ranked No. 31from Hungary. Justine Henin joined the early retirement crowd last year. Her Belgian compatriot, Kim Clijsters, came out of retirement, but won't be playing until the U.S. Open in August.

Europeans have played a major role in women's tennis in recent years, but the current crop lacks definition. Russian Dinara Safina is the top-ranked woman in the world even though she hasn't won a Grand Slam event. The glamorous Serb Ana Ivanovic, last year's French Open champion, has struggled since her lone Grand Slam triumph. Her talented compatriot, Jelena Jankovic, has yet to establish herself as a superstar.

Maria Sharapova, who recently returned from a nine-month break brought on by shoulder trouble, remains a question mark. There's no shortage of Russian women who want to take her place, eight in the top 30 alone, but none have reached her level yet. Maybe that will change by the end of next week.

A couple of years ago, there was much fretting about the lack of an American superstar in men's tennis. Sixth-ranked Andy Roddick is the only American in the top 15. For all the criticism he gets, the hard-working Roddick is one of the most likeable and engaging athletes in sports. And there's no U.S.-born player on the horizon who looks like he could equal Roddick's accomplishments, which include a Grand Slam title at the 2003 U.S. Open and a 13-week stint ranked as No. 1.

The dominance of Switzerland's Roger Federer is a thing of the past, thanks to Rafael Nadal. The indefatigable Spanish star's triumph over Federer in last year's Wimbledon final, an epic five-setter that many consider the greatest match ever played, signaled a changing of the guard. Nadal has since taken Federer's No. 1 ranking, and defeated him in another thrilling five-set final match at the Australian Open in January.

While some commentators have criticized Federer for, among other things, a seeming lack of resolve and an unwillingness to change a losing game plan, it is worth noting that he has been struggling with mononucleosis for more than a year.

His recent straight-set victory over Nadal at the Madrid Open has brought some added drama to the men's draw at Roland Garros, the site of the French Open. So, too, has the emergence of Scotland's Andy Murray, Serbia's Novak Djokovic and Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro as legitimate contenders.